Broken Wings
by Merrie
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken? Complete! Sequel Up! Please R&R!
1. Prologue: Lost Treasure of O Gato Preto

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from POTC, but I'd certainly let Cpt. Jack own me. *drool*  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Even though I've seen POTC 3 times now, this is my first attempt at writing fanfic for it. Please, if something seems or is off with my story, lemme know so I can fix it. Savvy?  
  
Also, read the SUMMARY! There will be character deaths and much angst in at least the beginning of this story! I hope this doesn't turn anyone away. It'll still be good, I promise!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Prologue: The Lost Treasure of O Gato Preto  
  
Captain Jack Sparrow surveyed the cave with a broad grin, gold and silver teeth dulling glowing in the muted torchlight from behind him. The crew members were so anxious to have their hands on the treasure that lay in front of them, that he could almost feel the weight of it pushing at his back. Finally, something was going right. Deciding the crew had waited long enough; he stepped aside and spread his hands in a broad gesture. "Take all ye can, men! Ye've earned it!" He shouted as his men, near giddy at the sight of so much gold. It wasn't the largest cash he had seen by far, but it was enough to keep him and his men happy, for now at least. Members of his crew stole by him quickly, pocketing whatever shiny baubles struck their fancies.  
  
He had been tracking this treasure for months; searching out any and every rumor or whisper of the lost treasure of o gato preto. Or the treasure of the black cat in king's English. Not an assuming name in the slightest, but Jack didn't much care. Gold was gold, no matter what name it came attached with. Examining a rather ornate golden vase, Jack couldn't help remember the last time he had been in such a place as this.  
  
*The cold steel sliding effortlessly through his yielding flesh. The numbness, so like what he knew death would be blanketing him afterwards. The look of absolute horror on young Will's face at the sight of him 'dead.' Seeing the bones of his hand own hand without skin and out through to the other side.*  
  
These images still haunted Jack, although you couldn't tell by looking at him. Looking down at a hand that still bore an ugly red scar where he had cut it, and placing his other hand directly over the all too subtle thin scar in the middle of his chest where Barbossa had run him through, Jack shuddered. Those two marks would forever remind him of the events that had transpired. He had known what no other man had known. He had known death, he had died, and yet he lived. And he never wanted to experience the like again. If he had to die, then so be it. He was Captain Jack Sparrow, and he would take it like the man he was. But to live on, undead . cursed for all eternity. No, he'd rather face a thousand hangings than have to go through that again. Anamaria had asked him about it. Will had asked him about it. Even Elizabeth had given into unseemly curiosity to ask him what it was like. What death was like. He couldn't tell them. They didn't know. They couldn't know. And they definitely wouldn't understand.  
  
"What be troubling ye, Jack?" Annemarie's lilting accent called to him.  
  
"Captain, love." Jack muttered without turning toward her. He could hear the concern in her voice but didn't want to share his thoughts. Turning towards her with a manic grin, he waved a bejeweled hand in dismissal. "It's nothing that ye need bother yourself with. Go, join the men. Ye've deserved it." Anamaria nodded, not entirely buying the false front of cheerfulness, but went to take her own share of the spoils. Jack sighed and cursed himself for thinking such melancholy thoughts. 'So what if ye died? Pull yourself together! You're Captain Jack Sparrow for Christ's sake! Ye've got your ship, the sea, your life, and all the gold you could possibly ask for! What more do you need?' "Some rum." Jack grumbled.  
  
***  
  
Jack frowned in concentration as he carefully wove a delicate gold chain around and through one of his many braided strands of hair. Many pirates kept tokens and trinkets from the loot the gathered, Jack simply chose to keep them where he could get to them easily; on his person. He also used his long hair to hide weapons that guards might not otherwise look for. The long sliver of bone attached to one strand, for example, was actually a carefully concealed dagger and sheath. Not once in the many times Jack had been imprisoned had the guards thought to check it. Perhaps they simply didn't want to run their hands through his often salt encrusted and dirty hair, but that made no difference. The blade had gotten him out of many a tough situation when he didn't have a young blacksmith looking out for him. At the thought of Will he smiled and wondered how he and Elizabeth were getting on. It had been quite a few months since he had sailed out of Port Royal, once again master of his ship, and he had to admit that he missed the pair. He didn't miss the trouble young Will seemed to get himself, and consequently Jack into however, but he missed the lad's company. And Elizabeth, when she wasn't burning his rum, was a nice enough lass to talk to if a little hard headed at times.  
  
Checking to make sure the gold chain was in place; Jack shook himself out of his memories and perched rather precariously on top of a pile of gold coins. Clearing his throat, he addressed his crew. "Listen up, ye scurvy dogs! I'm your captain, and I've got somethin' to say!" He waited until the giddy din at the sight of so much gold died down, and continued. "I wanted to share a toast with ye to celebrate our good fortune!" He turned to a pair of men standing close by who had been waiting for this moment. He had had them bring a couple of barrels of rum from the Pearl to shore for the toast. "Everyone find a glass! I'm sure there's some might fine ones around here if you know where to look!" Jack didn't have to wait long as the members of his crew held up various golden or silver goblets, chalices, or even plain bowls, ready to be filled with the rum. Jack nodded to the two men, and they went around the cave giving each man a liberal dose of the strong drink.  
  
Once all the men had their rum in hand and their attentions turned back to him, Jack spoke. "To the crew of the Black Pearl. May ye all know many such days as this. And always remember. Take what ye can." Jack trailed off to let the men continue.  
  
"And give nothing back!" The shouted in unison. At that, Jack drank. At first taste, Jack almost spit the liquid back out onto the coins he was perched on. It left a vile taste in his mouth unlike anything he had ever tasted before and felt a sudden rush of nausea overtake him. Swaying a bit more than his normal swagger, his eyes widened as the thought that it might have been poisoned sped across his mind. Surely his crew wouldn't try and mutiny twice, would they? Scanning a paranoid eye over the faces of his men, he was relieved to see no glances of hatred or jealousy directed his way. They were simply happy to be alive, happy to be rich and happy to be drinking rum. When Jack felt no further indications that his drink might have been poisoned he took a second much more tentative sip. He found his beloved rum just as he had always remembered. 'Hmm.perhaps it's this glass.' Jack wondered to himself. Realizing he was being foolish to think that only his glass could be poisoned when the rest of the crew was drinking of the same rum with no ill affects Jack knocked back the rest of the glass with a swift toss of his head.  
  
Suppressing the urge to cough like a young lad who couldn't hold his liquor, Jack once again grimaced as the rum turned foul. What was going on? He glanced toward Anamaria, a long time lover of rum like himself, and saw that she seemed to be having no problems downing one glass after another of the drink. Feeling his gaze, she caught his eye and raised a dark eyebrow as to inquire what he was staring at. Jack shook his head, not wanting to seem foolish in front of her. A pirate stayed alive and in charge in large part due to his reputation, and he didn't certainly didn't want anyone to know that Captain Jack Sparrow was having trouble holding his rum. 'This is young Miss Swann's fault somehow, I know it. Bloody woman.' He grumbled to himself, bereft at the thought of all the burnt rum. Anamaria frowned at his shrug but turned back to her rum and the conversations of her fellow crewmates.  
  
He glanced down to the chalice in his hand, hoping to figure out what was happening. It was a normal looking gold goblet, with a cat depicted on one side in dark obsidian. 'The treasure of o gato pesto, the treasure of the black cat.' Jack thought again to himself. He cast a quick glance over the various piles of treasure and noticed that the same lounging cat in dark relief seemed to be on every piece of it. There were some who believed black cats were unlucky, and meant death to those whose paths they crossed; even after all he had seen and done in his life, Jack had trouble believing in such simple superstitions. Gibbs had always assured anyone who would listen or even those who wouldn't, that having Anamaria on the Pearl would bring it nothing but bad luck. But ever since she had joined his crew the loot that had taken from various ships and treasure caches such as this had nearly doubled. Even though Jack wasn't superstitious, he was glad to have her on board. Another strong wave of nausea overtook Jack and this time he did stumble, golden coins spilling out from under his feet. He tried not to groan aloud, but couldn't stop a small noise of pain from escaping his slightly parted lips. 'What in God's name was going on?'  
  
"Jack? Are you alright?" Anamaria's lilting voice called down to him.  
  
He met her concerned eye and tried to grin. As she widened her eyes in a mixture of worry and fear and too a step backwards, he knew he had failed. Trying to wipe what had turned into an insane looking grimace off of his face, he spoke: "Captain, love. And I'm fine, really. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He straightened as much as he could to accompany his words.  
  
Anamaria didn't seem to buy it and walked over to his side. "How long have I known you, Jack?" She waved a hand to silence him before he could mutter the inevitable 'Captain.' "I've certainly known you long enough to call ye by your first name, so still that gob o' yours and listen. You've been actin' strange ever since we left Port Royal." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And now you're nearly toppling over in front of the crew. Don't lie to me, Sparrow. Tell me what's wrong. I can't afford you loosing control of this ship a second time."  
  
Anamaria's words of loss of control should have rankled, but Jack paid them no mind. Seeing the determined look on her face, he knew he would have to tell her something as to why he was acting this way. "I'm just a bit tired, is all love. I didn't get much sleep last night all by me onesies if you catch my meaning." Jack gave her a wink and a leer but she seemed unaffected. The fact that he could feel a cold sweat beginning to trickle out from under the scarf that kept his hair back didn't help to convince her either. Jack let out a sigh and decided to do something he didn't often like to do when it could be avoided; tell the truth. "I.I don't know, love. Its prob'ly nothing.I just feel a mite strange is all."  
  
"What do you mean? Strange how?" Anamaria asked, immediately going on the offensive. She had known Jack a long time and had learned to trust his instincts. If he felt that there was something not right about a situation, then you'd better get your arse out of there or you'd be meetin' your Maker right quick. Anamaria often wondered if that over-heightened sense of self- survival would have kicked in before arriving at the cave with the cursed Aztec gold, but that rat Barbossa had prevented her from ever finding out.  
  
"Not like that, love. It's not anything in here, I don't think, just me. I feel a bit..off." Jack finally whispered.  
  
"More so than usual?" Anamaria tried to joke with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Jack couldn't stop the small smile that came to his face even through his current pain. "Yes, love. More so than usual. I don't know what it is, and I don't like it."  
  
"Could it be.could it be the curse?" Anamaria asked in a quiet voice. Jack had never much spoken about the time he had been under the Aztec curse even when she had asked. He played everything pretty close to the vest now, and it annoyed the hell out of her. If he would just let her in, just for a second, then things might be different between them. Perhaps even Jack wouldn't have reason to complain about spending his nights alone. It wasn't as if Anamaria hadn't thought about renewing their relationship, she had. It was just that she couldn't stay with him if he didn't trust her. That wasn't the way she worked. Unfortunately, trusting people wasn't how Jack worked either. But, she had to try. "Please, tell me Jack." She paused a moment. "Trust me."  
  
Jack sighed and ran a hand across his sweaty brow, not even bothering to correct her at the use of his Christian name. She was right about that, at least. They had known each other long enough to dispense with the titles. As for trusting her? That was a different story altogether. Ever since.He cursed to find that he had difficulty even thinking about the long since past event. Ever since his crew had mutinied, he had trouble trusting people. And he knew that if he indeed had any faults as so many people seemed to think of the infallible Captain Jack Sparrow, then that was most certainly one of them. He almost trusted Will, and perhaps even that crazed.whatever Elizabeth was to Will now. Wife? Fiancé? Jack hadn't been in Port Royal in months. For all he knew they had married the day he left. The young were brash like that.  
  
Seeing the rather impatient look on Anamaria's face brought him out of his musings and back into his present situation. "I---I want to trust you, love. 'onestly I do. You'll just have to give old Jack here some time---" he was cut off as another wave of nausea threatened to topple him, this one even stronger than the last. In fact, he probably would have fallen if not for Anamaria's strong hand on his arm.  
  
"What was that just now, Jack?" Anamaria asked with wide eyes. "You're not drunk, at least I don't think you are, and you were feeling fine yesterday. What's wrong?"  
  
"I 'onestly don't know, love." Jack said around a grimace. "At first I thought it was the rum, but the crew seems to be fine and they're drinkin' quite a bit more of it right now than I am," He gestured to the imbibing crew with a bejeweled hand. "so I'm sadly not drunk either."  
  
Anamaria's eyes widened as a disturbing thought came to her. "You don't think it's another curse.do you, Jack?" She asked with a worried look on her face, knowing that if Jack was indeed cursed, she most likely was as well.  
  
"I don't know, love. I hope not. But if it is another curse, at least I've 'ad come experience in dealin' with 'em. You might say I was a bit of an expert." Jack smirked in her direction.  
  
"But, there could be a curse?" Anamaria prodded.  
  
"There's always a chance of discoverin' cursed treasure, love. That's what makes it so interesting. As for this treasure.well, the black cat did give me pause at first, but I don't believe in superstitions. You know that as well as any." He said, directed a pointed look at her. They both knew of Gibs' superstitions, and what that would mean for her if Jack took stock in them.  
  
"I know you don't, Jack. And I thank ye for it. But what do you mean about black cats? What would that have to do with a curse?" Anamaria asked, a confused look on her face.  
  
Jack took a deep breath to still his slowly worsening nausea and look askance at her. "Black cats are bad luck, love. It's said that if one crosses yer path you're double damned and doomed for sure."  
  
Anamaria just looked at him as if he were telling her he could breathe underwater. She was about to tell him as much when a low rumbling echoed through the cave. Anamaria had heard that sound before and knew that they were in trouble. "Earthquake!! Everyone out, now!!" She shouted towards the slightly drunken members of their crew. Somewhat of a pessimist, she didn't believe they would make it out in time, but she grabbed Jack's arm and dragged him towards the exit, running as fast as she could. Jack quickly got the hint and followed, painfully but willingly.  
  
Large chunks of rock from the cave's ceiling started falling everywhere they looked, and Anamaria turned her eyes away as she saw one of them land on an unsuspecting crew member. 'No time for pity. Get yourself out, now!' A voice insisted in her head. 'And Jack, don't forget about Jack!' Another voice amended. Sparing a quick glance at him over her shoulder while continuing to run for the exit, she saw he was struggling. He wasn't letting it slow him down, but it was obvious he was in pain. Before she could ask him how he was, a loud cracking noise startled her into looking above her. Eyes widening, she had just enough time to push Jack out of the way before everything went black.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Do you hate me for ending it here? If so, yea! I did something right, at least. Remember though, this is only the prologue. If the length of this chapter is any indication, we've got one long story in store for us. I can't wait. How about you? Did you like? I'm kinda worried about this, because I want to keep Jack as close to character as possible. So please, send your comments, constructive criticisms, and congratulations my way. Thanks for reading!! 


	2. Chapter 1: Death and Destruction

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from POTC, but I'd certainly let Cpt. Jack own me. *drool*  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Thank you sooooooo much for the reviews!!!! I literally bounced up and down in my chair with giddiness when I saw them.  
  
As for those of you who didn't want Anamaria killed..sorry, but I warned you to read the summary. This is definitely not going to be a happy story from the start. But, in light of all of you who so wanted her to live, I'm making this chapter Jack/Ana. I hadn't originally planned to, but I'm not completely evil. I figured I'd give you fans something to make up for the sad chapter.  
  
Again, read the SUMMARY! There will be character deaths and much angst in at least the beginning of this story! I hope this doesn't turn anyone away. It'll still be good, I promise!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Chapter One: Death and Destruction  
  
The first thing Jack became aware of was that something warm and wet was running down his forehead and into his eyes. Slowly reaching a hand up to wipe at his face, he frowned with something red coated his fingers. For a moment, Jack didn't know what was happening. A part of his brain shouted at him that the scarlet substance was bad, but he couldn't remember why. The last thing he remembered was something hard hitting him in the back of the head as he fell to the ground after being pushed.  
  
'Pushed..earthquake! Anamaria!' The thoughts came flooding back like the tide all at once and Jack scanned his eyes wildly around the room, no longer caring about the blood in them. Devastation passed over his face as he saw crew member after crew member lying still as death throughout the cave. These were all good, loyal men, and they hadn't deserved to die like this. They hadn't deserved to die at all. Rising to his feet, he swayed a bit as the room spun. Apparently, the nausea from before had passed, but an entirely new ailment set upon him most likely due to wherever the blood was coming from. "Bleedin' hell, that hurts." Jack said out loud as he pressed a hand to the back of his head and tried to center himself. Once he was able to at least stand without falling over, he resumed his search for Anamaria. She had been right next to him when the ceiling had come down on them. In fact, Jack's brow furrowed as he struggled to remember exactly what had happened. 'She saved me, that little strumpet. She pushed me out of the way.' He would have to punish her for that later. Jack was not a man who often believed in self sacrifice. 'I'll be damned if that woman dies for me.' He thought with a frown. Slowly moving throughout the large cavern, for that was all he was able to do at the moment, Jack's demeanour became even more grim as he passed body after body of his friends and crew. "Hello? Is there anyone left in here? If ye be alive, answer so I can gets to ya, savvy?" Jack called out, praying someone would answer him.  
  
"Jack." A quiet voice echoed slightly throughout the silent cave, and Jack grew frantic as he recognized the source.  
  
"Anamaria! Keep talkin', love. Keep talkin' and I'll be able to find you!"  
  
"You-you don't have to shout, Jack. I'm right at your bleedin' feet." The female pirate's voice called out to him with a bit of agitation.  
  
At first, Jack couldn't answer her. His eyes were riveted to her bloodied and broken form, pinned underneath a large pile of stone. "Oh, love. Why did you do it? Why did you push me out of the way?" Jack said, moving his kohl lined eyes to meet hers.  
  
Anamaria's gaze was strong and her voice was clear as she answered him. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Sparrow. D'ye hear me? This was not your fault."  
  
"But what if this is the curse, love? What if this is my punishment for taking this gold?"  
  
"NO!" She shouted, her voice echoing loudly throughout the cave. Part of Jack broke and near withered away at that noise. If anyone else of his crew had still been alive, they would have surely heard her yell and made movement towards them. Anamaria continued. "I don't care what's happened in the past, or what curses ye've encountered. This is not your fault, this is an act of God. There's nothing to be done to prevent it." She finished with a hacking cough, and Jack's eyes widened further in dismay as a thick trail of blood spilled out from a corner of her small mouth. He reached a hand to wipe at it and caressed her face.  
  
"Oh, love. Don't talk like that, you'll be fine." Even as the words passed his lips, Jack knew them to be false. He cast a quick glance down at her broken body and knew that she didn't have much time left. He also knew, that when she died there would be no coming back. At this grim thought, two shiny tears trailed down his dirtied and dusty cheeks, smearing the kohl that lined his eyes.  
  
Anamaria noticed and locked her eyes to his. "Don't shed any tears for me, Jack. I regret nothing. D'ye hear? I wouldn't change anything." Jack closed his eyes and turned from her, not able to face her any longer. Anamaria saw him turn away and reached out a hand to him. "Don't turn away from me now, Jack. Please? Let us have this last moment at least."  
  
Jack's eyes snapped back to hers as the full implication of her statement fell upon his shoulders. "No, I refuse believe that these are our last moments. I refuse to believe in a God that would take you away from me.now that we've found one another. I can get you help, Ana. I know I can!" A new hope shone in Jack's eyes and he got up to find someone, anyone that could help her.  
  
"No, Jack. Don't leave me to die alone. Not now, please?" Anamaria pleaded with him quietly.  
  
"You're not going to die, savvy? I refuse to allow it. I'm your Captain, and you're to listen to me, savvy?" At his customary phrase, his voice broke and he slumped back down to his knees at her side.  
  
"I've never been one for followin' orders. 'Specially from you, Jack." Anamaria said with a tight smile.  
  
"No ye haven't, ye troublesome wrench." At that, Anamaria let out a genuine laugh that was once more interrupted by coughing. Jack reached up to his head, he barely noticed the once searing pain emanating from the wound anymore, and removed his red scarf. Immediately, his hair came free from its bindings and fell down around his face. He leaned over and wiped the blood clean off of her face.  
  
"I've always loved to see your hair like this, Jack. I don't think I ever told you." Anamaria said quietly, reaching out a hand to touch his hair.  
  
"Then I shall leave it this way for you, my love." He said, leaning down to her hand when he saw her struggling to touch his loose hair. She smiled as ran her fingers through black locks, stopping to rest on a few of the numerous beads and chains he had woven through it. Once she had finished running her hand through his hair, she reached over to touch his face, her hand resting on one of his high cheekbones.  
  
"I do love you, Jack." She said quietly. "I'm not sorry for all the times I slapped you though. You deserved it."  
  
Jack smiled and noticed that the place she was now caressing softly with her hand was the very spot she was so fond of slapping. He was sure she had noticed as well. "I think I love you too, Ana." Jack said quietly.  
  
Anamaria just smiled. "I know." She said, and her hand fell away.  
  
For a moment, Jack just stared at her slack face with shock, willing her to say something else. A part of him was screaming to touch her, shake her, kiss her, to do anything and everything to bring her back, to show her that he loved her too, but his hands stayed fixed at his sides. Her breath had given out he knew she was gone, but he didn't want to admit it. Finally breaking out of his stupor, he took her shoulders in his hands and began shaking her roughly. "Ana! Don't you dare leave me! I can't do this without you!" He didn't know where the words were coming from, he had never told Anamaria any of these things, but the words felt right. "Oh God, how could you do this to me? Why? Is this my punishment? Is this my curse? Why didn't you take me instead? Why did you have to take her?" Jack shouted his questions at the ceiling, but if God answered, he hadn't heard. Jack laid his head next to Anamaria's and wept, the very seas outside of the cave echoing his sorrow, mourning the loss of their sister and friend.  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth loved to watch her fiancé work. She loved to watch him create things of beauty from something as seemingly lifeless and cold as metal. While she had told her father that Will was a pirate, and at heart he was, he was a very gifted blacksmith as well. Each sword he made was perfectly balanced and perfect in every way, and everyone knew it. No longer would he have to stand behind the shadow of his once mentor and have to hear his own painstakingly created work credited to the other man. No, know everyone in Port Royal knew Will Turner and his swords for what they were; works of pure artistry. Of course, Elizabeth might have been a little biased since she was set to marry the man in a month, but no one could blame her. Anyone who had doubted the union of a governor's daughter and a common blacksmith, not that anything was common about Will, could not deny the absolute devotion to one another they shared. It was clear that they loved one another and would find a way to be together whether they had approval or not.  
  
While her father had seemed to approve of their relationship at first, the reality of her situation had hit him not long after and he questioned her decision. Also, her comment about him being a pirate rather than a blacksmith didn't help any either. It was one thing for a governor's daughter to marry a blacksmith. It was an entirely different matter to marry a pirate. Will had spent much time an effort trying to prove himself to the governor. It didn't really matter to him whether or not he had the governor's approval for marriage, he loved Elizabeth too much to let her go without a fight, but he was a man of honor. If there was a way to convince the governor of his intentions and to receive his approval, he would find it. And he had.  
  
Ironically, Commodore Norrington had accepted the news much easier. He had loved Elizabeth, and no doubt loved her still, but he had great respect for Will, and knew that he would treat her well. Also, he could not deny like her father the love that Will and Elizabeth shared for one another. At one time, he had wished more than anything to see Elizabeth look at him the way she looked at Will, but now that time had passed. Elizabeth knew that he was a good man, but she found she had never loved him as she loved Will. She was glad he understood that, because she would have hated to loose him as a friend.  
  
A sharp clang of Will's hammer brought her out of her thoughts and back into the present. She had been sitting at her fiancé's side for quite a while now, and was beginning to grow a bit lightheaded from the heat of the furnace. "Will, my love, I know you can't rush what you do, but will you be much longer? I find I am getting a bit lightheaded due to all this heat."  
  
Will turned to her and immediately put his hammer down and walked over to her. "I am sorry. I truly lost track of the time. Will you forgive me?" He asked, imploring her with his soulful brown eyes.  
  
Of course she would forgive him. She would forgive him anything if he continued to look at her like that. "Don't be silly, Will. Of course I forgive you. I know how much you love your work and didn't want to interrupt. Who are you making that sword for? I didn't think you had any open orders right now."  
  
Will ducked his head a little and blushed. "I don't. I'm making this for Jack, actually. I wanted it to be a gift for him at our wedding. Are you still ok with him being my best man?" He asked her, a bit worried that she might have changed her mind.  
  
"Of course I am. I was the first time you asked me, and I'm certainly not going to change my mind now. I think it will be a very fitting gift for him. It is truly a beautiful sword, Will. One of your best. I only hope the invitation gets to him. It's not easy sending letters to a pirate ship, you know."  
  
"I'm sure he'll get it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he was on his way here right now. It has been a few months since they were last here, you know."  
  
"I know, it almost seems too quiet here, doesn't it?" Elizabeth asked him with a smile. "I often wonder if Jack and his crew bring excitement with them, because interesting things certainly seem to happen whenever they're around."  
  
"I only hope Anamaria hasn't thrown him overboard yet." Will said with a laugh. "But you're right about the excitement. I think trouble follows Jack around wherever he goes."  
  
Any response Elizabeth might have made was cut off by an incredibly loud thunderclap from outside. She and Will's gazes locked and they quickly made their way out the door. "That wasn't cannon fire, was it Will?" Elizabeth asked, more than a little worried that that might be the case.  
  
"No, I don't think so, love. I think it was just thunder." Will assured her, placing an arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Loud thunder." She muttered.  
  
"There seems to be quite a storm on the horizon. You see that?" Will pointed to a view of ocean, where waves were crashing furiously up against the beach. "It almost seems as if the sea is mad about something."  
  
Elizabeth nodded, her eyes fixed on the crashing waves. "I don't like it, Will. It gives me a bad feeling." She said, shivering a bit under his arm.  
  
"Come on then, let's get inside." Leading her ahead of him and safely back into the shop, Will turned and cast one last look at the storming ocean. Unbidden, a thought of Jack having to sail in such a storm crossed his mind and he frowned in worry. After a moment, he berated himself for worrying. Jack would be just fine. He was a grown man, and had been a pirate almost longer than Will had been alive. He knew how to take care of himself. And if he didn't, Will was sure Anamaria could keep him in line. With that final thought, Will smiled and rushed back into the shop to join his fiancé.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Please don't hate me! It had to be done, I'm sorry. If it makes Ana fans feel any better, this chapter was really really difficult to write! Unfortunately, it's gonna get worse for good ol Jack. How can it get worse, you say? Well, let's just say Jack's gonna have to go to hell before he can get to heaven. And with that, I'll say my farewells. Review real quick like and I'll update sooner, savvy? Thanks a bunch!!  
  
Also, for those of you who thought I would kill Jack? Are you kidding??? He's Captain Jack Sparrow! He can't ever die! Although..hmmm... 


	3. Chapter 2: Isolation and Insanity

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from POTC, but I'd certainly let Captain Jack own me. *drool*  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Pairings: Will/Elizabeth, Jack/Ana  
  
Author's Note: Hello, my pretties. Thanks sooo much for the reviews!!! You made my day!!! Unfortunately for some, this is another angstful chapter and you're probably not gonna be happy with it either. Remember my line about Jack having to go through hell before he can get to heaven? Welcome to hell.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Chapter 2: Isolation and Insanity  
  
Dead. They were all dead. Everyone, every single one of them. They were dead and they would not be coming back. Ana wasn't coming back. His crew wasn't coming back. Why was he still alive? Shouldn't he be dead too? The captain's supposed to go down with the ship, wasn't that the way it was supposed to work? Although, his ship was most likely still safely afloat in the harbor. It was most likely and not certainly because he couldn't convince any of his crew to stay aboard and guard her while the rest went after the gold. Now of course, all of his crew was dead and he was the only one left to sail the ship.  
  
Jack just sat at the side of Anamaria's slowly cooling body, making no move to leave the cave and head back out to the ship. For all he knew, the earthquake had caused a cave-in and the entrance was blocked. Perhaps he would die with his crew after all.  
  
His face was a portrait of grief. If he had cared to see himself in a mirror just then, he might have been shocked at the person staring back at him. His face was covered in a mixture of blood, dust and dark black lines from where the kohl outlining his eyes had smeared as he had cried. 'I cried. I cried for Ana. I cried for my crew. I never cry. Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow never cries. I cried, oh God I cried. Ana...I cried for you, I'm sorry. You told me not to, I'm sorry. But I cried.' Part of Jack was aware that he was rambling and more than a little worried about that, but the rest of him simply didn't care any more. He was the only one left alive in a roomful of corpses. He was the only one left to mourn, and he had. Reputation be damned. Finally standing up woodenly, he began to slowly move as many rocks off of Anamaria's body as he possibly could. He wouldn't leave her like this. He wouldn't leave any of them here like this. His crew hadn't deserved their deaths, and the most definitely did not deserve to be left in this place to rot. No, he would make sure each and every one of them got a proper burial, even if it killed him in the process.  
  
A rush of nausea at the very thought of having to move the bodies out to the Pearl overtook him and he wretched again on the rocks at his feet. Wiping his mouth with the back of a dirty hand, he turned back to Anamaria's body and continued his work of removing the rocks. Once he had moved enough to pull her body out, he did, not wanting to see her mangled body out from underneath the rubble that had killed her, but unable to turn away. Knowing that the image of her frail body bloodied and broken would haunt him for the rest of his days, he gently picked her up and held her close to his chest. "There now, love. I'll see you home, I promise. And Captain Jack Sparrow always keeps his word."  
  
Her body was surprisingly light in his arms, and he made it back to where he remembered the entrance was with little trouble. He hummed a sullen dirge aloud to push away the silence of the deathly quiet cavern. His humming stopped abruptly however and he nearly dropped Ana in utter shock and dismay at the sight of a wall of fallen rock blocking the entrance in front of him.  
  
***  
  
Commodore Norrington enjoyed life in Port Royal. He was relatively happy and didn't have much to complain about. Many a lesser man might have been bitter about loosing what was to be their fiancé to the local blacksmith, but Norrington knew that Elizabeth and Will loved each other, he had seen it in their eyes, and he knew that young Turner would take care of her. If he didn't..well, Will had better just take care of her.  
  
He thought back to the events that had passed in the last few months. He had kept his word and given Sparrow and his crew a day's head start before taking after them again. He hadn't been fortunate enough to catch him yet, and secretly, Norrington no longer knew what to do with Sparrow once he had caught him anymore.  
  
There was no doubt of catching him of course; it was simply that some part of Norrington didn't believe in hanging him any longer. Perhaps he had been too quick to judge in the past. Perhaps Sparrow was right that not a single action was enough to condemn a man. Didn't the church even say to forgive and forget? Now, he hadn't always been the best of Catholics, but he continued to believe, or at least he thought he continued to believe in the church's principles of right and wrong. He lived and would die by his moral code of honor, no matter what the consequences. Death before dishonor, and all that rubbish. He knew there were many who would not agree with his choices, but that didn't matter. He kept his word when he gave it, and always would. Many had criticized him for letting Sparrow out of his grasp when he was surely caught, but the people who mattered to him, Elizabeth and even young Turner, understood his reasons and respected him for them. So the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow still sailed the seas. Even though Norrington didn't know what he would do with him once he caught him, he knew that the pirate's time was ending. The British Royal Navy had been hanging more pirates than ever and Norrington knew that sooner or later there simply wouldn't be any pirates left to catch. A part of Norrington rebelled at that notion, assuring him that there would always be someone to go after, always someone to give his life and duty meaning as Sparrow inevitably had.  
  
Norrington chuckled to himself at what the pirate would think if he ever found out he had given a naval commodore a new outlook on life. 'He most likely wouldn't act surprised. That man would take credit for making the sun rise in the morning if he thought he could get away with it.' At that thought, the Commodore laughed aloud and went on with his day.  
  
***  
  
Will couldn't help but smile as he listened to his fiancé sing. She had a lovely voice, but didn't like to do it in front of others, so it was a rare treat for him to be able to catch her at it when she thought no one was around to hear her. Will smiled even further as he caught the words of her song. "Yo, ho, ho, a pirate's life for me." He had laughed aloud to hear that she had taught that song to Jack and that he promised he would teach it to his crew and sing it all the time. There was something indescribably hilarious in the image of a ship full of hardened pirates bursting into song at any spare moment. Unfortunately, the thought brought a chuckle from him, and Elizabeth turned around and saw him standing there, the song falling from her lips.  
  
"William Turner! How dare you just stand around like that and not even let me know you're here! You almost scared the life out of me!" Elizabeth yelled at him, slightly angry that she had been surprised so easily.  
  
"I'm sorry, my love, but I just wanted to hear you sing. You have a lovely voice. I wish you would sing for me more often. Even if it is that song."  
  
Elizabeth blushed prettily at being caught, but smiled at him. "But it's such a wonderful song, Will. Everyone thinks so, even Jack, and he's a real pirate so his opinion should count for something."  
  
"Oh I fully agree that it's a wonderful song. Just don't let your father catch you singing it, that's all. I don't think he's quite comfortable with the notion of pirates in everyday life, just yet."  
  
Elizabeth laughed aloud at that. "Of course you're right, Will. He wouldn't take too kindly to my choice of song at all. But he isn't here now so I shall do what I like. And I like that song."  
  
"I know you do. By all means, continue singing it. I love to hear you sing. I always have; ever since that day I heard the most beautiful voice in the world quietly singing that song out to sea before you found and rescued me."  
  
"I had no idea you had heard me." Elizabeth said, not really surprised that he was able to remember that day as well as he did. She remembered it quite accurately as well. She remembered the handsome young boy who she was assured was a pirate look up to her as if she were the only being all the world.  
  
"Of course I did. I thought I was imagining things or had died and gone to heaven at first, because surely only an angel could sound as sweet." Will said, kissing her gently on the lips.  
  
After a long moment, Elizabeth pulled away from her fiancé and looked in directly in the eyes. "You, William Turner, are an incurable romantic, and I love you for it." Elizabeth said with a laugh.  
  
"What can I say?" Will said with a shrug. "You bring out the best in me. I could imagine no other woman as my wife. I love you, Miss Elizabeth Swann."  
  
"And I you, Mr. William Turner." Anything else she might have said was lost as William pulled her close for another breathtaking kiss.  
  
***  
  
Jack sat in front of the blocked entryway, the only entryway he knew of, gently rocking Anamaria's body on his lap. "There now, love. It'll be alright. Captain Jack'll figure a way out of this one. Isn't that right, mates?" He shouted over his shoulder to the bodies of his dead crew. There was no answer, but Jack merely nodded and went on. "See, they've still got faith in me. They may be dead, but at least someone still believes in me. You know what, stay here Ana. I think I'm going to go check on them. See how they're doing." He gently laid Anamaria's body down at his feet and stood. The moment he became upright however, the room tilted alarmingly to the left and he fell back to his knees. Nausea shot though him again, and he would have thrown up on the rocks beneath him had there been anything left in his stomach to come.  
  
"Bloody hell, maybe I won't go check on the crew after all, love. It seems ol' Jack's head isn't quite set on right. He cautiously raised a slightly trembling hand to gently probe the back of his head, and winced as his fingers came in contact with wherever the blood had been coming from earlier. He winced as he felt numerous blood-matted and stiffened clumps of his hair crackle underneath his fingertips.  
  
He had kept his word to Ana and left his scarf off, and would continue to do so for the rest of his days, but a part of him knew that if he had put it back on it might go to some use at stopping or at least slowing the bleeding. He had left the bloodied scrap of cloth wrapped gently around one of Anamaria's tiny hands, the ends lying unmoving on her still form. He had put it there, and there it would remain. He would bleed to death before breaking his word and re-wrapping his hair. Wouldn't he? A part of him wasn't so sure. A part of him was worried at all the blood emanating from whatever wound he had acquired in the last few god-awful hours. That part of him was screaming at the rest of him to do something, anything to stop the bleeding and to get out of this tomb, for that was what it was now, a tomb, at once!  
  
"No, we mustn't, we cannot leave without them. Without all of them. We're not leaving them here to rot, and that's final." Jack had always seemingly teetered on the brink of insanity, and he knew it. No one could have remained completely sane had they seen the horrors he had, had they experienced the horrors he had, and he now felt his balance on that edge was faltering. "Talking to yourself and your *dead* crew isn't helping matters either, mate." But of course there wasn't anyone else to talk to. He was in a room filled with people, yet he more alone than he ever had been on that godforsaken island. He hadn't told Elizabeth all the details of his first little adventure on the island, nor would he if she asked, but before he had discovered the rum runners cache of supplies and felt the assurance that they would return for it and rescue him in the process, he had almost considered using the pistol and single bullet Barbossa had given him before forcing him off the plank. Almost. 'You've got a room full of guns this time, Jack. Take your pick.' A voice whispered. Jack shut his eyes and mind at it, shaking his head forcefully. The movement sent a wave of painful fire through his skull, but he paid it no mind. Now was not the time to go insane. "Just get out, get Ana and the crew out, and you can freak out and do whatever you like, mate." Jack said aloud to himself.  
  
Climbing slowly to his feet, Jack waited until the inevitable nausea and weakness from what was most likely blood loss passed, and started walking toward the main room of the cavern. Stepping cautiously to avoid the numerous bodies of his friends and crew, he kept his eyes firmly fixed on the opposite side of the cave. 'There had to be another way of here, no god could possibly be that cruel.' He reassured himself. 'Wasn't your entire crew killed at once, Jack? Wouldn't you consider that a bit cruel?' Jack wanted to push this voice away, but he found he couldn't. Oh God, were the deaths of his crew retribution for trying to take the treasure? Was this the curse that Ana had worried about before she died?  
  
"Why me?" Jack shouted. "Why did I survive? Why wasn't I killed with my crew? It was my idea to come here. It was my idea to take the gold, damn it, why didn't you take me?" If whatever being had caused the curse, for that was surely what this must be, was listening it gave no answer to his cries.  
  
Bereft, Jack slowly stood once more, refusing to give into the nausea that was threatening to cripple him, and made his way through the cavern. Having finally reached the opposite wall after what seemed like hours, Jack made his way along its length, looking for another way to get out of the godforsaken place. 'With the crew and Ana, mustn't forget about them,' a voice sternly reminded him. At one time, he might have been worried at all the voices he had been hearing clear as day in the last hour. At one time, his crew and Ana were alive and well there was no need for any of this. 'That time is past. So what if you're hearing voices, Jack? It's better than the silence.'  
  
Jack had never liked silence. He had never liked being alone and isolated either, but Barbossa hadn't bothered to ask him before forcing him on the bloody island. Perhaps that was one of the reasons he seemed to talk so much. People were always telling him he talked too much. As long as he kept talking, he wouldn't have to deal with the silence. Of course, talking too much didn't do any good if there was no one around to answer. As these thoughts went through his mind, he kept along the wall, searching fruitlessly for an exit that he had started to dread he would not find.  
  
'Oh, why don't you just lie down and die already? Your entire crew is dead, your lover is dead, who knows? Maybe you're dead already and you just don't know it yet. Maybe this is hell.'  
  
"Shut yer gob!" Jack yelled aloud to the voice. "I made a promise and I'm damn well gonna keep it! I don't know where ye've come from, ye bleedin' nuisance, but go away! I'm not going to listen to you anymore!"  
  
'If that's the way you want it, fine. But you may wish you had listened to me in the future.' Before Jack could begin to ponder what this new and dreadful voice had meant by that, a violent shudder went through him, and he collapsed to the ground, dead to the world.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: The End! ..just kidding! Don't kill me! This ending was rather mean of me, wasn't it? Hmm...oh well. I'm not going to lie to you, these are the best kind to write. *evil grin*. This chapter was really hard to write 'cause Jack kept going 'write about me! They want to know what happens to me!' and the rest of the cast was just like, 'well what about us? Are you going to write about us at all?' This was the result. Anyway, I'm starting to hear my own voices....hmm, they seem to be emanating from my POTC poster above my bed, how about that? So I think I'll stop yammering and get working on the next chapter. Until then, please send me your reviews!!! 


	4. Chapter 3: Curses and Corpses

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: All I own is a variety of ticket stubs, a poster that talks to me at night and stares at me while I write, and one overly played soundtrack. If that adds up to owning POTC, then why didn't anyone tell me??!! But I doubt it does.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! I seem to have lost some readers along the way. I hope that doesn't mean that you guys aren't liking my story. Anyway, the angst continues for poor Jack.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Chapter 3: Curses and Corpses  
  
Will shot up straight in his bed with a shout, breathing hard and sweating profusely. 'A nightmare, oh God, what a nightmare.' he thought to himself, trying vainly to catch his heaving breath. From almost the very moment he had finally fallen asleep, his dreams had been plagued by grim visions. Lighting the candle on the table at the side of his bed with a slightly shaking hand seemed to banish some of the worse images, but most of them still played themselves out behind his tightly shut eyes. "Jack......" he whispered to himself, opening his eyes again to cast a glance across the room. The light that had banished the horrid images moments before now seemed to cast shadows of demons and danger at every corner.  
  
"It can't be true, not Jack." Will had had nightmares before. Ever since the ordeal with the curse he had been haunted by scenes death; both of Jack's and his father's. He would remember the expression on Jack's face for the rest of his days as he had gotten run through by Barbossa's sword. And the grim cursed visage of Jack afterwards.....the very thought of it caused a shudder to course through his body. And his father......after he had ended the curse the thought had entered itself unwillingly in his mind. What if he was still tied to a cannon somewhere at the bottom of the ocean? Did that mean he had killed his own father by turning him mortal again and leaving him to drown? Will didn't want to think on it. He couldn't think on it or might have started screaming.  
  
Those weren't the images that haunted him now, however. His dreams were filled with death again, that was true, but this was different. This was no scene that he had witnessed in the past or imagined; this had happened. He knew it had, somehow he just knew. Anamaria was dead. Gibbs was dead. Jack's entire crew was dead. And Jack.....that part was unclear. Will didn't know exactly what had happened to him, but whatever it was, wherever Jack was, he was most certainly in trouble. Will didn't know how he knew these things, but he didn't want to question it. Not when every fibre of his being was screaming at him to get out of bed and search the seas for Jack at this very second.  
  
The decision made before he could even begin to think about it, Will threw the sheets off of his prone form and swung his feet off the side of the bed. Getting dressed quickly, making sure to attach his belt and sword last of all, he pondered on whether or not to go and retrieve Elizabeth. At last he decided it would be wrong not to bring her. She cared for Jack, same as he. She would want to go and rescue him, same as he. 'Is he even still alive to be rescued?'  
  
Will started at the voice that slowly whispered those words in his ear. Of course Jack was alive. He was Captain Jack Sparrow. He might as well have been immortal. Will would have believed that sooner than that Jack had died. But where had the thought come from? Will was relatively sure it wasn't his. Had he even heard it at all? Dismissing such thoughts from his mind, he gave a quick shake of his head to clear his mind and left to make his way to the Swann's mansion.  
  
***  
  
James Norrington couldn't sleep. He didn't know what it was, but there was just something in the air, something foreboding, that called for wakefulness. He stood out on the docks in the early morning twilight, simply listening to the sea. He had grown up on the sea all his life, and never before had he heard it sound like this. It was a horrid sound, something dark and unforgiving. If he had to describe the emotion of the sea to someone, he would have said it seemed vengeful. Something had gone wrong. Some balance had been disrupted, and the sea was angry about it. No, that was too light a word. Livid would have been closer to the mark.  
  
Norrington had to back away from his position at the edge of the dock as a particularly violent wave threatened to knock him from where he stood down into the sea. He didn't envy anyone out on the sea tonight. As a sailor of many years, he knew when the sea should be left well enough alone. This was definitely one of those times. So intent was his gaze on the sea that he almost missed William Turner heading rather loudly towards the governor's mansion. 'What is Turner doing heading over there at this time of night?' After a moment, an unwanted thought crossed his mind and he narrowed his eyes. 'He better not be doing what I think he's doing.' Norrington thought with a frown. "Mr. Turner!" he called out, causing the young man to start and turn abruptly to face him, a hand on his sword hilt. Norrington admired the lad's speed and reflexes. Those wouldn't help him if he was planning on dirtying Miss. Swann's reputation before they were to be married, however. "May I ask what you are doing heading to the governor's mansion at this time of night?" Norrington cast a stern glance at Will.  
  
Will almost smiled at Norrington's tone of voice. He knew how his going out to see Elizabeth at this time of night must have looked, but the call to help Jack was both urgent and insistent. Also, it was a bit difficult to take Norrington seriously while he was dressed in casual wear rather than his immaculate red coat, and his powdered wig had been left at home. Will realized that he had never seen his natural hair before. It was dark and short, very similar to Will's own. Realizing abruptly that he hadn't answered Norrington's question, he spoke, "I know how this must look, but I need Elizabeth's help." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he cursed under his breath for such a feeble excuse.  
  
"Is that so? And what exactly do you need Ms. Swann's help for, Mr. Turner?" Norrington asked, raising a dark eyebrow that Will could just make out in the dim light of early morning. If you had asked Will why he had done it later, he might not have been able to tell you, for in that moment he decided to tell Norrington the truth. He fervently prayed he wasn't condemning Jack to death as a result. "Jack's in trouble."  
  
"Jack?" After a brief moment, Norrington nodded. "You mean, Jack Sparrow, I take it? In trouble, you say. I don't believe it." The last was said with an air of sarcasm.  
  
"Yes, he is in trouble. His crew has been killed, and he is left alone." Will kicked himself for revealing that bit of information. How was he going to explain how he knew that?  
  
Norrington picked up on this right away, as Will had feared he would. "And just how do you know that, Mr. Turner? He hasn't been in Port Royal for months. I know, we've been keeping a close eye out." Norrington didn't want to admit that he was more likely to warn Jack away rather than hang him at this point because he wasn't fully comfortable with the idea himself, but once he had voiced those thoughts even just to himself they couldn't be denied. He admired the Captain. In fact, he admired him enough to do the incredibly stupid. "It doesn't matter," Norrington said, noticing Will was vainly trying to think of an answer to his question. If you say he is in trouble, then he is. You're a good man, Turner. I trust you. I'm not saying I trust Sparrow, far from it, but if you need my help to rescue him, I will be at your service."  
  
To say Will was shocked was an understatement. His jaw dropped to his feet and he was sure he was mumbling incoherently in disbelief. 'Did he say what I think he just said? No, this is Norrington we're talking about. He doesn't help pirates, he hangs them. Doesn't he?' Looking hard as best he could in the dim early morning light into Norrington's eyes, he tried to discern whether or not the man was serious. When Norrington met his gaze unflinchingly, Will put out a hand. "If we're to go on an adventure together, you must call me Will."  
  
"James." He gripped Will's hand firmly in his own and shook it with a smile on his face. "An adventure, is it? I dare say I hope I'm not to be discharged for this. I rather like it being a commodore."  
  
"If we can get Governor Swann on our side I don't think you'll have anything to worry about. If not.....well, you could always be a pirate." Will couldn't help but laugh at the utterly affronted look Norrington gave him at that suggestion.  
  
"Now, I believe you were off to retrieve Elizabeth?" At Will's nod, Norrington continued. "Then we shall go and find her together." With that, the two once unlikely comrades in arms walked off into the growing light together.  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth groaned aloud and placed her pillow firmly on top of her head to shut out whatever was trying to awake her at this time of night. She had just been in the middle of a particularly good dream involving a wet and shivering Will who had to take off all his clothes or catch his death. She wanted very much to get back to it. He hadn't even got both of his boots off before she had woken up. Hearing the sound again, which she was now awake enough to identify as something small hitting her window, she groaned and threw the covers back in frustration. Whoever had decided it would be a grand idea to throw things at her window and wake her up from what would have been the best dream she had had in a long time was certainly going to get a piece of her mind.  
  
Putting on her robe, she stalked over to the window and threw the curtains open just in time to back away in fear at the rock that came sailing towards her. Fortunately, she had not been hit because the still shut window had stopped the projectile, but this only served to incense her further.  
  
Throwing the shutters open, she shouted out into the courtyard underneath her into the dawning light. "Of all the nerve! I'll have you know it is quite improper to wake a young woman in the middle of the night! Wait until my fiancé gets his hands on you!"  
  
"Uh, Elizabeth? I am your fiancé." Will said with a small smile.  
  
"Oh! Will! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you!" Her eyes squinted in the yet dim light. "Then who is that with you?"  
  
"It's me, Elizabeth. We're sorry to have woken you." Norrington spoke up from his place at Elizabeth's side.  
  
"James? What are you doing here? Will? What's going on?" Elizabeth asked, now more than a little concerned.  
  
"Get dressed in traveling clothes Elizabeth, and meet us down here. Be as quiet as possible." Will told her gently.  
  
Elizabeth did as she was told without question, for now at least. She would find out what was going on soon.  
  
***  
  
Jack came to himself slowly, ever so slowly, groaning into the dirt underneath his face. If it was even possible, he felt even more wretched than he had before. After one failed attempt to rise to his knees and eventually his feet, he decided that he rather liked it down on the ground. At least it wasn't spinning.  
  
'Aw, is someone not feeling too good?' A voice sneered in his direction. For a moment, he was filled with hope that someone, anyone, had come to rescue him! He would be able to leave this room full of the rotting corpses of his friends. But then, it dawned on him. 'Oh God,' he thought with a shudder. 'I didn't hear that aloud, did I?'  
  
'Well, give the man a prize. You're not as bleedin' dumb as you look after all,' the voice cackled mockingly.  
  
Pushing himself to his knees, ignoring the nausea that ripped through his body like a sword, he yelled as loud as he had the strength for, "Who are you? What are you? Why don't you just leave me alone?!"  
  
'Oh, don't you know, Jack? I'm the voice of your madness.' Jack felt a cold rush of fear pass through him, and he slumped dejectedly. "Madness? I am not mad!"  
  
'Then who are you talking to, mate? I don't see anyone else in here but the corpses of all those you've failed. You killed them, Jack. How does that make you feel?' Jack could hear a smug smirk in the words.  
  
"I didn't kill them. It wasn't my fault. I am not mad! I do not believe that you are the voice of madness. I believe you are a curse. A horrible curse that caused the deaths of my friends. It was you who killed them, not me!"  
  
'Are you so sure about that? But who caused the curse, Jack? It certainly wasn't me.' The voice seemed to trail off, leaving Jack time to ponder its words. After a brief moment, he had convinced himself. He was many things, and oh God, perhaps he had brought a curse down on his friends, but he was not insane.  
  
'Not yet, anyway. But you and I are going to have lots of fun together. It's not as if you have anywhere else to go, now is it? And if you think your little 'friends' are coming to rescue you, think again. There's no one for you now, Jack. No one but me.'  
  
Jack pressed his hands to the sides of his head, vainly attempting to block the voice from his thoughts, but it was no use. The voice was everywhere; it was inside his thoughts, inside the cavern, inside his memories and dreams. The voice was everything. And it would not be denied.  
  
'That's right Jack. I will not be denied. You are going to pay for what you have done. You are going to pay dearly. You and everyone around you. And you will continue to live because I wish it. You will continue to live while the bodies of your lover and friends rot and decay around you. You will live to see young Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann curse the day they had met you for the pain you've caused them.' At that, Jack started. No, not Will, not Elizabeth.... The voice went on. 'Oh yes, I know all about them. I know how to make them scream. I will make them scream. And it will be *all* *your* *fault.* So you might as well just sit back and bleed. The fun's just beginning.'  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Was this a bad place to end? *evil grin* It was, wasn't it? But cliffhangers are so much fun to write!!! Do not fret too much though, at least everyone's still alive, right? Well, except for the room full of corpses......but what's a few dead bodies between friends anyway? Oh, those were Jack's friends........ *shrug* What can I say? I'm evil. 


	5. Chapter 4: Rescues? and Revenge

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: The Voice told me that Jack and everything POTC related is mine. Or at least, it will be after I kill......I mean, thank a few people first. Yeah, thank.......  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! And a special thanks to Miss Becky for betaing!!! You're the best, Miss B.  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language. The fun stuff, right?  
  
Chapter 4: Rescues? And Revenge  
  
Jack nearly groaned in relief at the absolute silence that surrounded him. The voice that had plagued his thoughts the last few......hours.....days.....Jack wasn't sure anymore, seemed to finally have left him alone for at least a little while. He used this time alone to collect himself and his thoughts. Some part of his brain knew that the voice was just prolonging his torment by allowing this brief period of rest, but Jack didn't care. The effects of a mixture of blood loss, thirst and hunger were beginning to get to him, and he needed the rest. Fortunately enough, there seemed to be plenty of rum left to drink even if there wasn't any food, and after a gentle inspection of whatever wound plagued him at the back of his head, he was relieved to find that it had stopped bleeding. He wasn't too worried about the lack of food either. He had eaten a relatively large meal before coming to this accursed island, and even with all that happened he was still optimistic enough to believe that he would either be rescued or escape on his own before starvation became an issue.  
  
Rising slowly to his feet, he cursed aloud his restless nature. He knew he should have been resting, but he couldn't stand to stay still for long periods of time. He never had been. So, finally giving into the restlessness that had been picking at his brain for quite a while now, he got up slowly and for the first time made his way over to the bodies of his crew. Immediately, his eyes set upon Gibbs and he felt his heart drop into his stomach. The man had died with a smile on his face, a hand still clenched around a fistful of treasure. Jack wanted to stay and watch over the body of his friend and shipmate, one of the only people who had remained at his side while he sought to reclaim the Pearl, but he knew he didn't have the time. He didn't want to think on such grim thoughts, especially now that he was haunted by the source of these thoughts, but he would most likely not be able to look on his crew's faces for very much longer. He had seen many dead men in his long years as a pirate, and he knew what happened to the bodies of the long dead. Decay would eventually set in, and the bodies of his friends would rot away into nothing but bones. And the dampness of the oceanside cave would more than likely speed up this dreadful process as well. Jack prayed fervently to a God he was no longer sure he believed in that he wouldn't have to witness such a horrid sight; that he would be able to set his mates to rest long before such an event could take place.  
  
'Your *prayers*,' the word was sneered obscenely, 'are useless. You will live to see your friends and lover rot and decay around you as I promised.'  
  
"Leave me alone, ye curse'd specter. I want nothing more ta do with ye." Jack said sternly, although he knew it was folly to think that this thing, whatever it was, would acquiesce to his demands.  
  
'But I'm no specter, Jack. Well, maybe I am, but then again, maybe I'm not. You know, there's still a chance that all of this is in your head. Who knows? Maybe you're still on that island, near death from thirst and starvation, and you've been imagining all of this. All these people you've met and loved are merely figments of a dying man's last dreams. Or maybe you're locked up somewhere, and all of this is the ravings of a mad man,'  
  
For an instant-Jack later thanked God that it was at least mercifully short- the world around him changed. The bodies disappeared, the cave walls melted and faded away, and Jack found himself in the very places the specter had mentioned. He struggled with the feelings that accompanied these images, an insanity of the likes he had never seen before; a mad desire to get someone, anyone, to believe that his stories, that his life was real. That Will and Elizabeth were real. That Ana was real. But it was to no avail. No one cared to listen to the unintelligible rantings of a madman.  
  
"This......is.......not......real!!" Jack shouted with all his might. In the instant the last syllable passed his lips, the scene before him dissolved, and he found himself once more in the tomb-like cave. It was hell, that was true, but it was a far preferred hell than the ones the specter had shown him.  
  
'Are you so sure about that?' the voice asked tauntingly. Before Jack could reply, he could sense that the specter had once more left him to his own thoughts. He in no way thought the voice had left for good, no, it had too much for in store for him to leave him be just yet. What the voice had in store for him Jack could only fear would be his eventual loss of anything resembling sanity, leaving him just as mad as everyone seemed to think he was.  
  
At one time he might have still been a little relieved to be left alone with his thoughts at least. That is, if the thoughts that were currently running through his brain were not filled with the images he had just witnessed, he might have been. He should have been able to dismiss them easily from his brain however, because they weren't real. What he had seen couldn't be real. Could it? An ever so small part of his brain that was being well cultivated by the voice began to doubt.  
  
***  
  
"Are you going to tell me why you woke me up in the middle of the night and forced me to sneak out of my own house now, Will? James?" Elizabeth asked the two men when they were out beyond the point where someone might have heard them in the mansion. She gave each of them a stern look when neither man answered. "Listen here, gentlemen. I'm not moving another inch until you tell me what is going on!"  
  
Will groaned. He had seen that look on Elizabeth's face before. He knew she wasn't moving another step until she had gotten what she wanted. "We're going to rescue Jack, Elizabeth. He's in trouble and he needs our help?"  
  
"Jack?" Elizabeth asked with wide eyes. Her eyes widened even further as she looked upon the commodore. "Surely you're not speaking of Jack Sparrow, are you? Because I would never deign to help a pirate." Elizabeth was now putting on a somewhat unconvincing act that brought a smile to Norrington's face.  
  
"You don't have to lie to me, Elizabeth. For some reason or other that I don't quite fully understand yet, I've agreed to help Will here rescue your Captain Sparrow."  
  
"You called him Captain." Elizabeth couldn't help but point out in an astonished tone of voice.  
  
Norrington's now pale face was clearly seen in the increasing light. "So I did. Imagine that." He said slowly. "I rather think I need to sit down now," he said, his eyes wide in disbelief.  
  
Will slapped him heartily on the shoulder and spoke up loudly. "Take heart, James. At least he's not here to see witness such a revelation." As soon as he realized what he had said, that he had unintentionally wished for Jack to remain wherever he was, be he in trouble or not, Will's face fell.  
  
Norrington, being at such close proximity with him, saw the immediate change in emotion and whispered slowly in his ear, "I'm sure he's fine. We will rescue your captain. On this, I give my word of honor."  
  
Will pulled back to look at him and saw such a look of absolute seriousness on his face that for that moment he truly believed that if Jack was able to be rescued, he would be rescued with no trouble at all.  
  
"I believe you when you say Jack's in trouble, Will, but how do you know it?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
"I would very much like to know that bit of information myself, Will," Norrington said, giving Will a direct look.  
  
Trapped between two such people whom he knew wouldn't let him change the subject or put off the truth any longer, he spoke. "I wish I could tell you. I just don't know. Whatever I say to you will sound crazy."  
  
"As opposed to tales of undead pirates and cursed Aztec gold?" Norrington said with a wry grin. "Out with it, Will. Elizabeth and I have agreed to help you rescue......Mr. Sparrow," the captain had nearly passed his lips once more before he caught it, "but we deserve to know what we're getting ourselves into."  
  
Will sighed. "I know. I can't force either of you to help me without telling you what you're getting yourselves into now can I?" Will didn't wait for an answer to this rhetorical question, and no one offered one. "It was a dream. That's how I knew Jack was in trouble. Now, believe me. I know how that sounds, but this dream seemed more real that some of my clearest memories. Somehow, I know Jack's crew is dead."  
  
"His crew? What do you mean is crew is dead? His entire crew?" Norrington asked in disbelief. He knew how many men it took to properly run a ship, and the thought of that many souls seemingly killed all at once sickened him.  
  
"His entire crew. I don't know how they died, that part is unclear, but I do know that Jack is the only one left alive."  
  
"My God, how horrible. His entire crew......even? Oh God, Mr. Gibbs." Elizabeth had always had some of a soft spot for the man, and to learn of his death was indeed a blow. "And that Jack would have to witness.......oh God Will. We have to get to him. No one should have to deal with something like this alone."  
  
"I know, Elizabeth," he said, placing an arm tight around her waist to comfort her. "And I wish I could say that the deaths of his crew was the only thing I saw in my dream, but it wasn't. There is something else surrounding Jack right now that's inspiring my movements even more than the thought of Jack's crew."  
  
"What do you mean? What is surrounding him?" Norrington asked quietly, the sick feeling over the toils Sparrow was facing growing worse.  
  
"I'm not sure, exactly. And it was unclear in my dream. I just know that it was something dark and evil. Something that makes Barbossa's most dreadful acts look like mere child's play. Something that we should be wary of and something that will most certainly bring Jack to the breaking point unless we can get to him quickly. Again, I'm not sure how I know all of this, and right now I don't care. The only thing I care about right now is getting to Jack."  
  
Elizabeth and Norrington nodded, each of them accepting this at face value, but knowing that the fact that Will had dreamt that Jack was in trouble, that he knew instinctively that he needed help, would not be put to the side so easily. Sooner or later, they would have to discover why this was happening and deal with it when the time came.  
  
"Have you the faintest idea of where to begin looking for him, Will?" Norrington asked softly, praying that he had.  
  
"Not entirely, I admit. It's a bit like how I know Jack's in trouble. Some part of me knows that when I'm close enough to him I will be able to find him. I wish I could tell you more than that, but I don't understand any of this any better than you do. Jack and I have some sort of......connection that wasn't there before. I don't know what it means or where it came from, but I have to trust it. Jack's life could be depending on it."  
  
"We're going to need a ship, James. Have you any ideas about how to get one?" Elizabeth asked him.  
  
"I might have a few. I'm not so sure about the crew though Will. I fear we may not find many men willing to go out on the sea when she's acting in a way such as this," he gestured down to the beach where the tall waves were beating unmercifully at the dock. "Especially on a mission to rescue a pirate. No to mention the fact that we don't even know where to find him yet."  
  
"Can the three of us man a boat by ourselves? You and Jack made it all the way to......" Elizabeth paused to remember the name. "Tortuga, was it? With only the two of you on board, Will. Surely the three of us could do the same. Couldn't we?"  
  
"While your faith in our abilities is appreciated, the three of us can't man a ship by ourselves." Norrington said with a sad smile, not knowing how they were going to pull this little *adventure* off.  
  
"Why can't we?" Will asked suddenly.  
  
Norrington gaped at him. "Are you mad? The three of us alone on a ship on a day like this? I can taste a storm on the wind even if you can't, Will, and the three of us certainly couldn't man a ship by ourselves in something like that. And even if we could, where are we going to get a ship? I doubt very much that the British Royal Navy would just willingly give one to us. And even if they did......" Norrington's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of a truly mischievous look on Will's face that reminded him a little too much of the man they were setting out to rescue. A horrid thought occurred to him and his face paled considerably. "Oh please tell me you're not thinking what I think you are. I rather like being a commodore, remember? And stealing one of the navy's ships is definitely not going to look good on my record."  
  
"Stealing? No. We're not going to steal a ship." Will said, the mischievous grin on his face growing even wider. "We're going to *commandeer* a ship. Nautical term, you know, Commodore." Norrington just groaned.  
  
***  
  
'Did you have a nice rest?' the voice teased upon its return. Jack fought not to groan.  
  
"Why are you doing this to me? What are you? I've returned all your gold back to wherever we had taken it from! What more do you want!" It was true, Jack had spent his 'rest,' slowly but surely replacing every bit of gold he had found on his crewmembers' bodies back in the chests and piles they had been taken from. The task left a dirty taste in his mouth, and he felt like a grave robber.  
  
'You are a grave robber,' the voice seethed. 'What do you think this place is? Not now, although thanks to you this is definitely a grave now, but what do you think this cave was before you and your crew got here? Are you really stupid enough to think that all this treasure would be laying around for no reason?'  
  
Jack hadn't really cared where it had come from. Gold kept his crew happy, and a happy crew was a non-mutinous crew. Not that any of that mattered now, of course. There was no one left to mutiny should they feel the desire. "I don't care what it was. I don't care what it is now. All I want is for you to leave me and my remaining friends alone. You've already killed......you've already killed many of the people that I care about. Isn't that enough for you? Isn't that a curse enough? To know that I will be haunted by this day for the rest of my days? Well congratulations you bastard. I will be." Jack's tirade was cut off as he was thrown across the room violently, landing hard on the rocks next to Mr. Cotton's body. Wiping a hand across his mouth, he cursed and spit blood onto the ground. He had bit into his tongue sharply as he had hit the ground, and now his mouth was filled with the sick copper taste of his own blood.  
  
'Nothing I do will be enough for what you've done, Sparrow,' the voice said coldly. 'I want you to remember this the next time you feel a need to put on a little display. Just because I haven't hurt you, doesn't mean that I can't.' Jack fell back to the ground in relief as the specter's presence faded once more.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell." Jack cursed, making it to his feet unsteadily. He could feel something warm dripping down his neck and knew that the wound at the back of his head had broken open again. The room began to spin, and spots danced at the edges of his vision as he struggled not to pass out. At this point, unconsciousness might have been welcome save for the fact that he was worried that he might not wake up. Looking up to the ceiling of the cave, Jack spoke. Whom he was speaking to, he wasn't entirely sure. "I can't take much more of this. If Will and Elizabeth are coming for me, they had better hurry."  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: You like? This wasn't too bad of a place to end, now was it? *evil grin* Wow, I'm sure being pretty mean to our dear Captain. And as for Will, Elizabeth and our dear Commodore......well, let's just say that there won't be smooth sailing for them either. What can I say? I'm evil, and you all know it. 


	6. Chapter 5: StealingNoCommandeering, Salv...

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: All I own is a variety of ticket stubs, a poster that talks to me at night and stares at me while I write, and one overly played soundtrack. If that adds up to owning POTC, then why didn't anyone tell me??!! I'll go get started on the sequel right now!!! But I doubt it does. Alas.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! And a special thanks to Miss Becky for betaing!!! You're the best, Miss B. This chapter is by far happier than any of my others have been. I hope you like it!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Chapter 5: Stealing-No-Commandeering, Salvation and Storms  
  
"That has got to be the worst plan I've ever heard of, Will." Commodore Norrington said with a frown.  
  
"It sounded rather good to me," Elizabeth interjected.  
  
Norrington fought not to roll his eyes. As much as he loved the girl, sometimes she could be a little thickheaded. "Elizabeth, dear, I'm afraid there is no way we are going to pull this off."  
  
"Oh come on, James. If Jack can do it, then you most certainly can as well." Will said with a small smile.  
  
"Wait a minute, what do you mean if Jack can do it? Sparrow has done this before? And he got away with it?" Norrington asked incredulously.  
  
"Well yes. I'm not entirely sure he got away with it though. Weren't you listening to the hangman read off the list of his charges before you tried to hang him? It was in there." Will asked him in a slightly angered tone of voice.  
  
Norrington heard his tone and tried his best not too look away in guilt. He had been doing his job. He hadn't been happy about having to hang Sparrow even then, but it was the law. "No, I'm afraid I had other things on my mind at the time." Norrington said evenly, giving Will a stern gaze.  
  
It was all Will could do not to falter under Norrington's gaze, and he spoke with shame. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. I know you were just doing your job." Will said softly before shooting Norrington with a stern gaze of his own. "But you don't want to do that job any longer, correct? I know you said you'd help us rescue Jack, and forgive me for doubting you, but if you try and hurt him in any way, or if this is just a ploy to get him back in that noose, you'll have to come through me. Do you understand?"  
  
Norrington had to smile at the young lad's seemingly unwavering loyalty to the pirate he called friend. He wasn't sure Sparrow deserved such loyalty, and he hoped he appreciated it. "I understand, Mr. Turner. I will do nothing to put your friend in jeopardy. I give you my word."  
  
Satisfied with this, Will nodded with a smile. "Then let's see about getting you some priest's robes, shall we?"  
  
***  
  
Cursing himself for ever agreeing to such a monumentally stupid plan, Norrington made his way down to the dock where the navy had berthed their ships. 'How in God's name did Sparrow manage to pull this off? These robes are damned itchy,' Norrington thought to himself, scratching at his arms underneath the woolen black robes of a man of the cloth. 'And who would have ever believed Sparrow to be a priest? As soon as he smiled that ghastly metallic grin of his, the game would be up. Father Sparrow my foot,' Norrington thought with a frown, turning his attention back to the situation at hand. He had to make it aboard the ship somehow and manage to get all of the crew members off. But how? "This would have been so much easier if I could have just gone as myself and ordered the men off. I'm a Commodore. They would have to listen to me." But of course, it wasn't every day that a commodore of the British Royal Navy ordered men off of a ship, so there would no doubt be some suspicion to that idea. So, back to being a priest then.  
  
"You there, Father! What brings you down on these docks at this time of day?" A lieutenant aboard the very ship Will had wanted him to 'commandeer' called out.  
  
'Damn you Sparrow if this doesn't work.' "Ahoy there, laddie. Tis a fine mornin' in't? May I speaks to ye in private?" Norrington's tongue stumbled around the unfamiliar Irish accent, but he managed well enough.  
  
"Aye, Father. I'll be right down," the man called out. Norrington sighed in relief. 'Now for the hard part.' After what seemed like an eternity, the young man stood in front of him. Norrington had thought at first to call upon the Captain of the ship, but he had worried too much that he might be recognized by a man of higher rank. "What was it you wanted to speak to me about, Father?" the young man asked eagerly.  
  
"Tis grave news I bring, son. There be something aboard your ship." Norrington said, affecting a horrified gaze. "Something that will kill all of ye if you do not leave quickly."  
  
The young sailor's eyes widened as he listened. Norrington tried not to grin. Was it luck or fate that he had come upon what looked like the most superstitious and gullible young man in the Caribbean? "What's aboard? Some kind of demon? Say, Father. I pray you speak on."  
  
"Nay son, be it not a demon." Norrington seemed to pause to ponder his words. "Or, it be not a demon of the likes ye be thinkin' of. Nay, I fear it tis a plague aboard your ship."  
  
"A plague!" the young man shouted aloud in fright, just the response Norrington had been praying for, and every man in close proximity; there were quite a few, turned towards them.  
  
"Aye lad, a plague. One of yer shipmates came to me church not but hours ago, raving and sick as a dog, he was. I fear he may be in the arms of the Lord, now. But whatever illness he had with him surely remains on your ship." Norrington said, raising his voice so the men on board could hear as well. "Ye must abandon it at—" Norrington cut himself off with a hacking wheezing cough, trying to make it sound as if he were almost in the Lord's arms himself. It worked. The young man backed away rapidly and ran to the ship. "Abandon ship! Abandon ship! All men run for your lives!" Norrington felt himself start to laugh at the utter stupidity of this man, and coughed even harder to cover it up, falling to the ground in what looked like the throes of death itself. From his place on the ground, he could feel the deck shaking as the rest of the crew ran off as well, the lieutenant's shouts and Norrington's act going far to convince them.  
  
"What is the meaning of all this?" the Captain of the ship shouted out, setting foot on the dock a step behind most of his crew.  
  
"A plague, sir! Run for your life!" a random sailor called out, pushing past him.  
  
"A plague, you say?" the Captain didn't look as if he believed it, but then he turned to see his now empty ship, looking still and lifeless after the loss of her crew, and back to Norrington, where he was now playing dead on the dock. "Dear Lord." The man didn't exactly run away as his crew had, but he didn't walk either.  
  
After a few long moments, Norrington opened one eye and surveyed the area around him. It was completely and totally empty. Word of the plague aboard the Saviour, for that was the ship's name, must have spread quickly. Norrington couldn't help but laugh out loud now. 'Dear God, I thought naval men were supposed to be full of logic and reasoning. These men ran as if the devil himself were on their tails.' Shaking his head at the institution of which he himself was a part, he vowed to make some changes in the navy once this whole adventure business was over. Although it suited their purposes that the men aboard ship were so easily convinced of dangers from a plague that didn't exist, the navy couldn't afford its sailors turning tail at the very thought of danger. They would be a laughingstock, and pirates would rule the seas. At the thought of pirates, or rather one pirate in particular, Norrington got up and made his way on board the ship.  
  
Once aboard, Norrington was pleased to see that the ship was on the verge of setting sail when he had happened upon it. It was yet another instance of good fate, good luck, or both playing in their favor; and Sparrow's. Norrington quickly made his way over to the starboard side where he knew he would find the rowboat in which Elizabeth and Will waited for him. Upon seeing them there waiting, he threw down the ropes with which they could both tie the extra boat to ship, and climb aboard. Once both matters were accomplished, Will turned to him and spoke.  
  
"I say, maybe you should give up a position in the navy and go into acting. That was brilliant!" Will said, laughing. Norrington didn't offer a response.  
  
"I think you would be better suited in the priesthood. You look rather fetching in black." Elizabeth said, her eyes gleaming with mischief.  
  
Norrington simply rolled his eyes and made his way to the wheel. "If you two would be so kind as to raise our anchors and not make jokes, we could be on our way to rescue your Captain Sparrow." At that, Will and Elizabeth remembered why they were aboard the ship in the first place, and went about their work, the grins falling from their faces. Norrington hadn't meant to end their humor so abruptly and sternly, but he knew that before too long some brave soul would come to check on the ship. He wanted to be long gone before that happened. And another part of him whispered that the sooner they got to Sparrow, the better it would be for all of them.  
  
***  
  
Jack's reality was fading, and fading fast. He could see black spots beginning to form at the edges of his vision and he knew that wasn't a good sign. He probably needed a doctor to look at whatever wound plagued him at the back of his head. His whole skull felt like it was on fire, and only getting worse. He shut his eyes tightly to push the pain away, but nothing worked, and as soon as he closed his eyes he felt himself begin to sway back and forth as the room spun and his balance was thrown off. He was about to finally lie down and give into the weariness that had been plaguing him, and if he didn't wake up again all the better at this point, when a voice echoed throughout the cave.  
  
"Shiver me timbers." A voice called out in the deathly quiet cave. Jack groaned and shut his eyes tightly again, ignoring the reoccurring spinning of the cavern.  
  
"Leave me be, ye damned spirit. Haven't you done enough for right now? Leave me to bleed in peace." Jack spit out. The line was called out again, and Jack forced himself to look up. His eyes widened when he landed on the source of the voice. There, unbelievably, was hope; hope sitting on a rock high above him and looking down him with bright black eyes. "Dear Lord, let this not be an illusion." Jack whispered to himself. "Mr. Cotton's parrot? Is it really you?" Jack asked with a wavering voice. If the bird had made it through all of this, perhaps he could as well.  
  
"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" the bird called out loudly. Jack, upon remembering Mr. Gibbs' words to him upon first meeting Mr. Cotton, once more took this as a 'yes.'  
  
"D'ye think ye can get me out of here?" Jack knew it was madness to pin all his hopes on a bird that could still be an illusion, but what choice did he have? 'None. Ye have no choice at all, Jack. If you don't get out of this place soon, you'll surely go mad.' Jack started at the voice in his head, but after a moment, he realized it was not the specter come back to haunt him, but merely his own thoughts unvoiced. It was going to take awhile before he would be comfortable hearing any voice in his head, even his own.  
  
"Wind in the sails!" the bird called out once again and took flight. Jack knew that it wouldn't be too long before the voice came back from wherever it went again, and was determined to be long gone by then. He followed a bit unsteadily, but as quickly as he could behind the flying blur of color. The bird came to roost on the far side of the cavern, and Jack's hopes dropped.  
  
"I've already been over here, ye bleedin' bird! There's no way to get out, I've checked! Bloody hell, it looks like Captain Jack's doomed to die with his crew after all. 'Dead men tell no tales,' and all that, eh?" The bird didn't seem to disagree.  
  
"Shiver me timbers!" the bird called once again, looking more cheerful than ever.  
  
"And what in all creation is that supposed to mean?!" Jack was shouting now, the pounding in his head had reached its peak. His strength was almost gone as it was, and yelling in frustration at this blasted bird was most certainly using up the last of it. In his slightly demented state, Jack could have sworn the bird rolled its eyes at him. Almost. He wasn't that far gone yet. It took flight again and Jack let out a sigh. If the bird was trying to show or tell him something, he was much too weary to figure it out.  
  
"Land, ho!" the bird called out, having roosted on the rocks. Jack rolled his eyes and looked up to where the bird had landed. There, to his utter disbelief was a break in the rocks. It wasn't much, but he wasn't an overly large man and he thought he could fit into it with little trouble. Not bothering to question why he hadn't noticed it before, he made his way toward the bird and was severely tempted to give it a sound kiss on the beak when he had managed to get free of this tomb. A part of him rebelled at him leaving, it reminded him that he had a promise to keep in getting the bodies of his crew out of there and laid to rest. Jack had no intentions of breaking his word; he had made a promise, and he was bloody well going to keep it, but right now he had to get out of the awful place or he would surely go insane. Ever so gently, he moved some of the larger rocks from around the exit aside, widening it ever so slightly. When he saw that he could make it out, it would be a tight fit, but he could make it, it went for it.  
  
Ignoring the wave of claustrophobia that rushed over him as he slithered through the small opening, he managed inch by inch to get ever closer the brilliantly shining early morning light at the end. He saw this bright light at the end of the tunnel and he yearned for it with all of his being. 'Dear God, I'm almost free!' Jack allowed himself to celebrate, not a whole lot, because there were still somber matters to deal with, but some. He would be free to breathe in the sweet ocean air, bathe in the warm Caribbean sunlight, and figure out what to do next. 'At last I'll finally be free of that damned voice!' he thought to himself. He had replaced all the stolen gold, and now he was leaving its cave. He felt relatively sure that it would leave him alone now. After all, what profit could there be in tormenting him any further? He was so caught up in his thoughts of the mysterious voice that he fell flat on his face as he reached the end of the tunnel and fell out onto the sand. 'Oh God, the sand!' he joyfully placed a hard kiss on the sand beneath his face, not caring that it now coated his lips and beard. He was free! He was alive, he was relatively unharmed, dizziness and nausea telling him otherwise, and he was out in the sunlight! Rising gently to his feet, ignoring the almost encumbering nausea that seemed to accompany his every act now, he squinted up at the sky and his breath was taken away by the utter beauty of the world before him. The sky was such a deep blue that for a moment he almost thought he had somehow fallen over and was looking at the sea by mistake. There was not a cloud in the sky to dispel this illusion. It was awe-inspiring.  
  
And yet...there seemed to be something...he couldn't put his finger on it. There was something not right about the whole scene. The sky looked too perfect. His eyes widening in realization, Jack shuddered. He had seen this before, he knew it, and like any other experienced sailor, he feared it. This was what the sky looked like just before all hell broke loose. A storm was coming, he could feel it now. Even see the beginnings of it in the distance. A god-awful mother of a storm that would tear anything and everything in its path to shreds. "Dear God," he whispered aloud. He remembered praying with all his might for Will and Elizabeth to do anything and everything to rescue him as soon as they possibly could. If he could take back that prayer now, he would have. For few would have any chances of making it alive out of the storm that was surely coming.  
  
'Yes, do you like it? I've made it especially for you and your friends.' the voice whispered, a smirk evident in its tone.  
  
"No! I escaped! I'm free! You're not here!" Jack yelled hoarsely. No, it couldn't be real. He had escaped. He wasn't in the cave any longer. He had returned every last piece of gold. What more could it want from him?  
  
'Only your suffering and eventual death.' the voice whispered cheerfully. 'Yours and all of your friend's. And you actually believed you would escape from me?' the voice laughed aloud, the sound echoing through Jack's mind. 'There is no escape. Not even in death, which you will be praying for when I'm through with you. Did you stop to think during your little egress why I didn't try and stop you? It's because you can't get away from me, Jack. Ever. Oh, and I've taken care of that blasted little bird for you. You won't be hearing from it again. All those sayings were getting on my nerves.'  
  
Jack closed his eyes tightly. 'One more crew member to bury.'  
  
'Aww, is poor Jack sad about his dead bird?' the voice mocked. 'Don't worry; they'll be plenty more where that came from. I haven't killed *everyone* close to you yet, have I? No, I haven't. See? We've got lots more to do together. So sit back, enjoy your time in the sun, while it lasts, I won't begrudge you that at least. It's probably going to be the last time you get to see it for a long long time.' With that, the voice left him alone to enjoy his time in the warm summer sun, but Jack never felt colder in his life.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Well, crap. I really wanted this to be a happy chapter!! I really did!! I don't know what happened!! I was all like, yea! Jack gets rescued by Mr. Cotton's parrot! And then...well, then it all went sideways and wrong.... ( Sorry about that. Heh, but at least it had some happy parts in it, right?? Heh, heh...darn it. 


	7. Chapter 6: Mirages and Madness

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: No one's mine except for the 'voice' and I don't really like him that much, so I'm not sure I want to claim him either.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Continued thanks to Miss B. for betaing!!! Ok everyone, I'm NOT going to even pretend that this is A HAPPY CHAPTER. It isn't. Sorry.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.  
  
Chapter 6: Mirages and Madness  
  
Jack slumped down to his knees on the sun-warmed sand and again he did something he hadn't genuinely done in a very long time; he prayed. He didn't know who or what this spirit was, and what it could do to hurt Elizabeth and Will, but he knew he couldn't face it alone. He had stopped caring what it did to him a while ago, but something in him screamed out for the safety of his friends. And he knew that they would most definitely need that safety. If he had learned anything about William Turner, it was that he didn't give up on his friends, and surprisingly enough, he considered Jack one of those friends. He was on his way to 'rescue' him; he knew it within his bones. Jack didn't know or understand how he knew this, but he could feel Will's presence getting closer and closer after every passing minute. Unfortunately, he could also see the mother of a storm coming closer and closer as well.  
  
Finishing his prayer and turning to sit back down on the sand, he cast his eyes in its direction and really studied it for the first time. The sky was a growing black the likes of which he had never seen. The sea was calm for the time being, but he was more frightened of that than if it had been furious. Every manner of creature on what looked to be an island teeming life had grown still and silent. He knew without a doubt that he had been right at first glace to be afraid of it. It looked to be a storm to be reckoned with. And he had no doubts that it was caused by the accursed specter of his. Briefly, his eyes sought out his beloved Pearl, and he was somewhat heartened to see her still firmly anchored in the bay, her black sails fluttering slowly in what little wind remained. She really did look like the ghost ship she was rumored to be now that she was without a crew. If she hadn't been there when he had looked up......Jack had doubts about his own grasp on sanity already, but he knew that such a sight as that would have most certainly driven him over the edge. He just hoped she would still be there after the storm had passed. If it passed.  
  
"Jack," a voice whispered to him in the distance. He had not yet trained himself to ignore the voices around him, knowing that the only other being with him was the specter, so his head shot up in recognition. There, coming towards him on the beach, her feet wet and covered with sand, her long dark hair flowing freely in the wind, was Anamaria.  
  
'No,' Jack thought, a horrified look passing across his face. 'No being could be that cruel. To haunt me with such an image.......no, she's not real. Ana's dead, and this is not her. It can't be her. I saw her die.' He shut his eyes tightly against such a wonderful but untrue vision, and placed his hands over his ears so he wouldn't have to listen to her siren-like calls.  
  
"Jack," 'Ana' whispered again. "It's alright you bloody pirate. I'm here now, and by God, no specter's going to get the best of me." Jack felt a hand placed firmly but gently against his shoulder, and he couldn't stop himself from leaning into her touch. God, she even smelled real. She felt exactly like his Ana in every way imaginable, but he knew it wasn't her. He knew this was simply an extension of his torment from the specter, but that didn't stop him from taking even the briefest of comforts in the false human contact. He feared that it would be the last he would have for quite awhile.  
  
"You let me die, you know," the visage of Ana whispered cheerfully into his ear. You left me to die in that cave and now I'm there rotting with everyone else you've failed. Do you know that? You've sent me to hell Jack, I burn because of you. You killed the woman you loved, how does that make you feel? Does it make you feel bad? Does it make you feel guilty? Oh no, that's right. The famous Captain Jack Sparrow can't be made to feel guilt, can he? That's too human an emotion for the likes of him."  
  
Such words surely sent by the devil himself spoken in the tones of his angel nearly sent Jack into another fit of weeping. He didn't want to listen to this illusion's words, but he found himself unable to stop. And he even began to agree with them. Yes, he had killed Ana. He had killed his entire crew. They lay rotting and alone in that godforsaken cave while he sat in the warm sand. He had failed them. He had brought the curse down upon their heads. It was all his fault.  
  
"Listen to me, ye bastard!" 'Ana' slapped him hard across the face, but it was unlike any time he had been slapped before, even by Ana himself. This was full of hatred so strong that he could feel it seething off of her in waves. He fell onto his side, his head spinning with the impact. 'Ana' wasn't done however. She kicked him viciously in the ribs and continued. "You're a worthless, miserable excuse for a man, Jack. You're mother was right to leave ye. Everyone's left ye, isn't that right, Jack? Either that, or ye've gotten them killed. Ever wonder about what happened to your dear friend 'Bootstrap'? He was sent to the bottom of the ocean simply for being your friend." The thing that was not Anamaria laughed derisively. "With friends like you, Jack, who needs enemies? You do your so-called friend's enemy's work for them. You kill your friends, Jack. Ye always have. I can't stand the sight of you. You disgust me." Jack kept his eyes fixed towards the sand beneath him, forcing himself not to listen to the demon that sounded so much like his Anamaria. It even looked like her. Before he could stop himself, he let his eyes wander back to where she stood above him, and he recoiled in horror, the place where she had kicked him ablaze with pain from the sudden movement. "That's right, Jack. Do you like what you see? This is what ye've done to me. This is what ye've done to all your so- called friends,"  
  
'Oh God,' he thought, forcing the bile that had risen up in the back of his throat away. 'Her face, oh God, her face,' The illusion was in a rapid state of decay, rotting skin was a patchwork of green and purple splotches and it hang loosely off of her cheeks, her eyes shrunken in their sockets. She smiled, a horrible jackal-like smile, and he could see that many of her once perfect teeth had fallen out as well. "That's right, Jack. Take a good long look. You did this to me. You and your greed. It was your idea to go after the gold, wasn't it? Your idea to track down this cave and 'take what you want and give nothing back,' is that right? You brought your crew here to die. You brought me here to die. Oh, and guess what? Your remaining friends?" She laughed gleefully. "The only friends you've got left that are still alive? You're bringing them here to die as well. It's only a matter of time. I'll be sure and greet them proper in hell." She kicked him again even harder than the last time, and Jack felt the oh too familiar pain of a few of his ribs breaking. He gasped for air, looking up at where the illusion had stood, but she was gone.  
  
He rolled over on his back, clutching his aching, broken ribs in his hands and stared at the still blue sky, tears running down his cheeks. The tears weren't from the pain, having a broken rib or two hurt like hell, but it was a hell Jack had been unfortunately accustomed to. He knew that if he wrapped the broken ribs tightly and didn't move, they should cause him little trouble. He didn't cry for the pain of the split lip the illusion had given him either, even though the sand that had coated it when he fell stung wretchedly. No, he cried because try as he might, he could not push her words out of his mind. He had killed his friends, and now he was in hell. There was no other explanation for it. No world could ever be this cruel. With that thought, Jack felt his last hold on reality, on sanity, begin to slip.  
  
***  
  
"Is this weather natural, James?" Elizabeth asked with a frown on her face, staring up at the calm sky. "I don't like it. It gives me a bad feeling."  
  
Norrington sighed and cast his eyes to the horizon. "As well it should, Elizabeth. The sea is much too calm. I fear a storm is on its way."  
  
"A storm? What kind of storm?" Will asked, coming to stand by the wheel where Elizabeth and Norrington stood.  
  
"A frightful bad one if I'm judging correctly. Sailors have learned to worry when the sea looks like this. When the sea goes dead calm silent, it's best if you dock somewhere, and soon."  
  
"Dock? But we can't dock! Who knows what's happening to Jack right now!" Will shouted, the worry for his friend plain on his face.  
  
"I understand your worry for Sparrow, Will, but we may have no choice. I don't think the three of us can handle this ship in a storm. And it will do Sparrow no good to get ourselves killed on the way to rescue him, now would it?" Will sighed, but seemed to accept Norrington's words. "Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to be able to dock anyway. At least, not before the storm strikes."  
  
"What do you mean?" Will asked, his brow furrowing.  
  
"Look there," Norrington pointed to the distance where black clouds loomed ever closer to them, huge and threatening. The sea had gone as still as glass, and yet some unfelt wind was pushing the storm seemingly directly towards them at a rapid pace.  
  
"My God," Elizabeth whispered. "*That's* a storm? It's coming right for us!"  
  
Will and Norrington couldn't help but agree with this observation. The storm seemed to be pulled towards them by some invisible string tied to their main mast. And it didn't look as if they would be able to cut it. "Hoist canvas!" Norrington yelled to his 'crew.' "If we don't, the sails will be ripped apart! Hurry!" This was quite a feat to be accomplished what with only Will and Elizabeth being able to help, Norrington had to stay at the wheel and steer the ship, but they somehow managed. Without the sails catching what little wind there was, the Saviour soon came to a dead stop, floating listlessly along in the still too calm sea.  
  
"How much time do you think we have before it hits?" Will asked as calmly as he could. He didn't want to worry Elizabeth any more than necessary, but that didn't seem to be an option.  
  
"Not enough, I fear. And out in the open like this, it will be much worse." Norrington said with a frown, having walked up next to where Will and Elizabeth stood as he was not needed to steer the ship if it wasn't moving. "I have a feeling that the storm headed for us right now is not going to slow down any time soon, and we have absolutely no cover from the elements."  
  
"Do you think Jack will be alright?" Elizabeth asked slowly, her mind cast to their lost Captain.  
  
"My dear Elizabeth, I think we're going to have to worry about ourselves first. I understand your worry for Captain Sparrow, but we must look to our own survival before we can worry about his. Anyway, I'm sure he'll be fine—" Norrington was cut off by a loud gasp from Will. "Will? What is it? What's wrong? Are you injured?"  
  
"Oh God, no, it's not me. It's, it's Jack. We need to get to him. We need to get to him now. Or else I think he'll be lost to us," Will said with a shudder.  
  
"What do you mean, 'lost'? Lost how?" Norrington asked him, his brow furrowing. The young man before him had seemed to loose all color the instant he gasped, and now looked as if he was about to be knocked over by the first light breeze that came along.  
  
"I'm not exactly sure. But he needs our help. And I don't know where any of this knowledge is coming from either, so don't bother asking," After waiting a moment to let his words sink in, Will continued in a soft, horrified voice. "I think he may be going mad."  
  
A quip about how Sparrow had always seemed a bit mad to him was on the tip of Norrington's tongue before he saw the look of utter seriousness and fear pass Will's face. After a moment's thought, he found he wasn't that surprised. If what Will had said about the death of the man's crew was true, that in itself would be enough to drive any man to the brink of madness and beyond. But there was something else, something that he himself felt in the air. Something sinister behind this whole ordeal. He couldn't explain this feeling any more than Will could explain his intuitions, but he felt it, all the same. "We'll do all we can to reach him as soon as possible, Will. On that, you have my word."  
  
Will didn't seem to take any real comfort in his words, so Elizabeth stepped in, laying a hand gently on her fiancé's shoulder. "Jack will be alright, Will. He's faced many more perilous dangers than this, I'm sure. I know, because I've read about them. Even if his stories about his escape from the island were untrue, I'm sure there's some truth at least in the rest of them. And he's Captain Jack Sparrow, remember? If anyone is going to come out of this on top, it'll be him. You'll see," she said with a smile, it was small, but it was unforced.  
  
Will wanted to take heart in Elizabeth's words, but he couldn't shake the cold feeling that filled him now at every thought of his friend. 'We're coming, Jack. Just hold on a little while longer. We're coming,' he vowed silently to himself, hoping somehow the message would reach his friend. He dreaded what they would find if it did not.  
  
***  
  
"I'm in hell, this is hell, I'm in hell, this is hell, I'm in hell, this is hell," this horrid manta could be heard passing Captain Jack Sparrow's slightly parted lips. His face was blank, his eyes staring in the direction that "Ana" had gone. He sat on the sand, gently rocking back and forth, not caring that his broken ribs were screaming at him, not caring about anything at all really. He was about to give into the pain and mercifully fall into unconsciousness when the specter spoke up cheerfully,  
  
'Aww, it looks like poor Jack's been broken. Whatever will his friends do now to find that you've reverted into a drooling madman?'  
  
Something in this question gave a part of Jack's mind pause. His friends.......he remembered his friends. Will, Elizabeth. The image of a hundred other lost friends passed through his near-shattered mind in a heartbeat, causing Jack to shut his eyes tight and groan aloud in pain. "My friends," he spit out through clenched teeth slowly, "are coming for me. And when they get here, you won't matter." Jack was gaining strength and speed to his speech, and he sped on, "You're just a specter; a curse. And I've dealt with curses before. I've beaten curses before, and I will beat you. You're nothing. You're a bleedin' gnat in my ear and nothing more."  
  
'Well now,' the voice said, with an air of amusement. 'That was empowered. Do you feel better now? I sure hope you do, because as much of a joy it is for me to see you in a state of utter madness, I'm not quite through with you yet. And as for the line about the gnat in your ear; that was good. I liked that,' A sudden loud roar all around him filled his ears, sending him screaming to his knees, his hands clutched to his head, praying for the noise to stop. When it finally did, Jack nearly sobbed in relief. 'How was that? Was that gnat-like enough for you, Sparrow?' the voice asked coldly.  
  
"You won't beat me," Jack whispered firmly one last time before his battered and abused body finally decided that it had had enough, and succumbed to the darkness that waited for him.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Me: Hello, my name is Merrie, and I'm evil. Group: Hello Merrie. Me: I torture Jack for my own amusement and pleasure. *gasps are heard among the group* Group Leader: Admitting this is the first step towards recovery, Merrie. Congratulations. Me: Yea. Group Leader: But remember, it's a long road to recovery, you'll not cured tomorrow. Or next chapter, or the chapter after that, or the one after that.......but someday. 


	8. Chapter 7: Storms: Physical and Mental

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: No one's mine except for the 'voice' and I don't really like him that much, so I'm not sure I want to claim him either.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, and nearly his life to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and all the wonderful cast of POTC.  
  
Author's Note: Continued thanks to Miss B. for betaing and to all of you who've reviewed. Thanks!!!!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence language, and pure undiluted angst.  
  
Chapter 7: Storms: Physical and Mental  
  
To say they were in for hell was an understatement of monumental proportions. The storm that bore down on the three of them was beyond hell. Norrington didn't know what it was, but just looking at him sent shivers down his spine. There was something unnatural about it, and for a moment he sincerely doubted that any of them would make it out of it alive. He knew by the looks of that they wouldn't be able to sail under the force of the wind, so he yelled out to his 'crew', "Drop anchor!"  
  
Once that was accomplished, with the Saviour firmly anchored to the bottom of the ocean, Norrington left the helm and went down to the deck to meet Elizabeth and Will.  
  
"Why did we drop anchor, James?" Elizabeth asked, raising a hand to wipe a stray curl out her eyes so she could look at Norrington directly.  
  
"It's the only option we have right now, Elizabeth. The wind would tear us to pieces and blow us off course to God knows where. We have to make our stand here and hope that the ship makes it out of the storm in one piece."  
  
"And that we make it out in one piece too, Norrington," Will said. He then cast his eyes to the deck. "I'm sorry for getting you into this. If we all get sent to Davy Jones', it'll be my fault."  
  
"Don't speak like that, Will. You didn't get us into this, Sparrow did. And don't think that I blame him for this either. No man deserves to be left alone if what you said happened to him is true, even a pirate. You're a good man, Will. I know that you wouldn't put anyone in harm's way intentionally, not unless there was no other choice."  
  
"No, I wouldn't," Will whispered. "But that won't matter if we all end up at the bottom of the ocean. We'll be dead, and Lord only knows what will happen to Jack then."  
  
"I don't care what you two bloody say!" Elizabeth suddenly shouted, causing the two men to gape at her in shock. "Listen to yourselves! It sounds as if you're giving up already! We're not lost yet, and we're certainly not dead yet! Storms have been plaguing sailors since they've been on the sea. This is just another storm, and we're just another group of sailors that will beat it back. And don't you go worrying about Captain Jack Sparrow, either! He can look after himself, savvy?" At the mention of Jack's preferred word in Elizabeth's more refined tone of voice, the mood lightened on the deck, and all of them smiled.  
  
"We could sure use his talents now," Will said, a look of regret crossing his face. "You should have seen how he handled the ship in a storm. I've never seen anything more courageous. Or more insane," he said, a smile crossing his face.  
  
"When did you see how he handled a ship in a storm? You aren't talking about the storm we encountered chasing after you during the whole cursed gold incident, are you? Sparrow sailed through it? Good Lord, I had my suspicions that the man was mad, but that only confirms them. Have you any idea how difficult it is to sail through a storm like that? How risky?" Norrington asked, looking directly at Will.  
  
Will only smiled. "Yes I do know how risky and dangerous it is, James. But I also know that Jack managed to bring us out of it in one piece with little trouble."  
  
Norrington shook his head and laughed, "I must say, if your Captain Sparrow keeps surprising and impressing me like this he might just change my entire opinion of pirates in general."  
  
The three of them laughed at that a bit before the reality of their situation came crashing back to them. The storm would not be stopped by laughter, and it didn't matter how good Jack was at sailing through storms because he wasn't there to help them. No one was there to help. They were on their own, alone and naked before the elements.  
  
***  
  
Reality came back to Jack in a blaze of pain and fire, most of it emanating from his bruised and broken ribs. He knew he had to do something about them, and soon.  
  
Jack gritted his teeth viciously as he managed to untie the long sash around his waist and retie it around his broken ribs as tight as he could manage without passing out from the pain. It wasn't the best of solutions, but it was the only one he had available to him right now. He had had to do something about them or there was a risk of becoming even more injured. Now all he had to do was lie still for a bit and maybe the pain would go away.  
  
'Poor pathetic Jack. Just look at yourself. Why do you even bother living? Just give up and die,' "Anamaria's" voice called out to him mockingly. He didn't bother to turn his head in her direction. He was tired of listening to something he knew wasn't his love. He was so very tired of it all.  
  
'I think you've had enough of her for now, haven't you Jack?' the voice called out almost kindly. As if it was actually concerned for his wellbeing. Jack knew this wasn't true. 'Of course I'm concerned for your wellbeing, Jack. I want you alive and conscious so you're able to see your friends die at your hand. Oh, sorry, I'm giving the ending away now.' The voice said, actually sounding embarrassed.  
  
"What do you mean, 'at my hand?' I'd rather die than hurt Will or Elizabeth." Jack groaned out between his still clenched teeth.  
  
'Well I supposed since I went and spoiled if for you I might as well tell you my plan. You've seen what I can do to you, Jack? The pain I can inflict? The visions I can send?' A beautiful image of Anamaria appeared at his side just then, running her hand lightly over one of his weathered cheeks. And by God, it felt as real as the sand beneath his head. 'And I can show you other visions as well,'  
  
"Jack! We're here to rescue you! My God, what's happened to you? Where is the rest of you crew? No, it doesn't matter. We'll get you to safety on the ship and then we'll worry about them." The specter that was not Will turned to the equally unreal Elizabeth. "Help me with him, will you Liz?"  
  
"Will" laid his rough blacksmith's hands on Jack's shoulders and Jack nearly sobbed in a mixture of horror and relief. It felt so real. To see Will's smiling face mere inches above him, his hair coming loose from its bindings and framing his face like a halo, it made him want to weep.  
  
And Elizabeth, she was as beautiful as the first time he saw her, her face glowing in the warm Caribbean sunlight as she smiled down at him. Jack reached out a dirtied and bloody hand to grasp Will's own, but the instant their fingers were about to touch, the images of Will and Elizabeth vanished as if they had never been there, not even leaving footprints in the sand where they had been standing. They had seemed so real. They had felt so real. But they were as insubstantial as the image of Ana the specter had sent to haunt him.  
  
"Damn you, for sending such an image to me ye cursed bastard ghost," Jack spit out, feeling tears running down his cheeks slowly.  
  
'Oh, but I haven't even showed you the best part yet, Jack,' the voice taunted. Before Jack could ask the voice what it meant by that, he felt a presence wash over him, wash *into* him, and he screamed in pain and shock before he could stop himself. The specter had entered his body!  
  
He felt one of his arms rising, his hand waving in front of his face, and knew that he was no longer in control of his own body. The specter was riding him like a parasite, controlling his every action, and he was helpless to stop it. He couldn't even open his own mouth to say anything to the specter. All he could do was to sit back in a darkened corner of his mind and watch as it examined "its" new body. One thing however, he felt a curious burning sensation and the back of his head and at his chest. Jack didn't know what this sensation was, but he didn't like it.  
  
Finally, the specter gave up its control over Jack's body, and he felt as if his spine was being ripped out from his back as it left. Something warm coated his face, and Jack raised one his own hands again to touch it. His eyes, nose and mouth had started bleeding upon the specter's exit. He closed his eyes against the pain of the bleeding, and in doing so noticed neither his broken ribs nor his head injury were causing him any trouble.  
  
'You like that? I decided to fix you up a bit while I was in there. I couldn't have you dying of infection and blood loss before I was done with you, now could I?' the voice asked with a laugh.  
  
"What did you do to me?" Jack whispered, laying his hands on his chest. "My ribs, they're healed. What are you?"  
  
'Tsk, tsk Jack. I can't tell you that. You would never look at me the same. And as for the healing trick? It's within my power. As is much more, just wait and see. I'll leave you alone for a while to revel in your regained health, but I'll never be very far away. Keep that in mind." And with that, the specter left Jack alone with his thoughts.  
  
***  
  
The storm raged against their little boat, the rain plastering their clothes to their bodies, the wind tearing their hair into knots. Norrington was glad he had left his wig at home before this madness had started for he would have surely lost it to the wind now.  
  
"We're not going to make it, are we?" Will asked as quietly as he could over the roar of the wind and waves, he was still nearly shouting in Norrington's ear.  
  
Norrington took a long look at the sky above him and wiped his jet-black and dripping hair out of his face. "No, I don't think we are. I'm sorry Will," he said somberly. Just as he said this, they turned to hear a low cracking noise that sounded like their deaths. "It's the main mast! It's going down!" Norrington shouted.  
  
"Elizabeth is down there!" Will shouted back to him, and the two men exchanged a look of horror. Just as this look was being exchanged, a bloodcurdling scream was heard as clearly as if it come from right behind them. Norrington and Will immediately ran down to the deck as fast as they could, neither one of them caring that the wheel was now left unattended.  
  
"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" Norrington shouted, the two men rushing as carefully and as quickly as they could to the middle of the deck while keeping a firm hold on the life lines. Elizabeth looked to be trapped underneath the fallen main mast, and she wasn't moving.  
  
"Oh God, no, she has to be alright. This can't be happening. Not now," Will mumbled to himself, crouching down at her side. "Elizabeth? Talk to me, please. Let me know you're alright," he pleaded with her still form.  
  
Together the two of them managed to lift the broken mast off of Elizabeth, but she still didn't answer Will's pleas. Will caressed one of her cheeks lightly, pushing a stray curl off of her nose. "Please be alright," he whispered.  
  
"Will?" Norrington asked, a tone of worry in his voice. Will didn't pay any attention however, he was too intent on making sure Elizabeth was alright. "Will!" Norrington's voice came again, and he looked up at him, irritation written all over his face. Norrington wasn't looking at him however, he was looking out to sea, and his face had gone as white as the wig he was so fond of wearing. Will followed his gaze and his eyes widened in horror.  
  
Off the starboard side, a tidal wave was forming. The biggest tidal wave either man had ever seen in their lives. It was easily twice as tall as the main mast had been before it had fallen. "Holy Mary, mother of God," Norrington whispered before turning to Will. "Grab Elizabeth and the life lines and don't let go! No matter what, don't let go!" And with that, the wave crashed down upon them.  
  
***  
  
Jack had kept his word. He had gone back into the cave that now housed all his nightmares and began clearing the rocks and dirt off his dead crew member's bodies so he could move them out to the beach and onto the Pearl.  
  
He treated each one with the same dignity and respect, even if he hadn't known the crew member very well. At least, he had tried to. He found it hard to be impartial when it came to Anamaria and Gibbs. Anamaria, still looking lovely as ever laid out on the ground like she was sleeping, and Gibbs, the smile still on his face and his hand still full of gold. It brought a smile to Jack's face to see his friends so at peace. To be saved from the hell he currently found himself in.  
  
Once he had moved as many crew members out onto the beach as he could before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion; it was nearly all of them, he leaned against the cave wall and breathed heavily. But he couldn't stop. He wouldn't stop until they were all safely aboard the Pearl. With this new determination, he moved the last of his crew out onto the beach, where he stood and looked over the rows of bodies.  
  
That he should lose 14 crew members, all of them killed in one day; it was unheard of. It was monstrous. Jack crouched down on the sand and looked over the slack faces of his men with a heavy heart. He would not cry for them any longer, he had promised Ana that he would shed no tears over her body, and excluding his initial reaction he intended to keep that promise. He was a man of his word.  
  
Looking up to the sky, his forehead furrowed in confusion. The storm that had seemed to imminent now seemed to be nowhere in sight. The bright blue Caribbean sky beamed down at him as if there never had been a storm and never would be again.  
  
'You're wondering where the storm went?' the specter asked him. Jack sighed, but knew he couldn't be rid of it so he merely nodded, taking the bait. 'It's served its purpose. Your friend's ship has been destroyed,' the specter laughed at this.  
  
"You lie," Jack said, his eyes narrowing in anger. "You're just trying to make me give up the hope of them coming for me when you and I both know that's not true," Jack seethed. "I'm not listening to your lies any longer."  
  
'Oh but they're not lies, Jack. Will and Elizabeth's ship was destroyed in the storm. But they weren't the only ones aboard, there was also another. Someone named Norrington. I believe you know him as well,'  
  
Jack let out a long laugh at this, "Ok, now I know you're lying to me. There's no way in hell bloody Commodore Norrington would join Will and Elizabeth on a quest to rescue me. You'd better get your facts straight before you attempt lying to me ye bastard,"  
  
'Oh it's the truth, I assure you Jack. Would you like to see them?' Before Jack could answer one way or another, he felt the specter enter his body once more, this time even more painful than the last. Suddenly the image of Will, Elizabeth and yes, even bloody Commodore Norrington assaulted his eyes. He didn't know how he was seeing them, but he knew it was real. The three of them were struggling to keep their heads above water in a raging sea. But Elizabeth, what was wrong with Elizabeth?  
  
Before he could get a better look at her, the vision ended as the specter pulled violently out of Jack's body, causing him to cry out in pain. Once more he felt his own hot blood coating his face and he knew he must look a fright. He raised a hand to wipe at his face and noticed something odd on his fingers.  
  
Now, he knew he wasn't the best of examples when it came to cleanliness. He had once tried to keep his hands free of dirt and grime, but it was no use. A life at sea was simply not a very clean life. But what covered his left hand now he knew wasn't dirt. But what was it? Wiping what dirt he could off of it, he noticed that the back of his hand and his two middle fingers seemed to be covered in something black that would not come off no matter how hard he tried. No, it seemed to be a part of his skin, almost like the tattoos he was covered in. The thing was though, a tattoo wasn't the most pleasant of experiences in the world, and he certainly would have noticed getting a new one on his hand. Wouldn't he?  
  
The tattoo, for he had no other name for it, completely covered the middle two fingers of his left hand in black from top to bottom. It almost looked as if he were wearing a glove made for only those two fingers. As for the rest of his hand, he had been to the British Isles, he had seen the way the Celtic people made themselves up before a battle. It looked like that; a series of both complicated and delicate knots that formed to the contours of his hand. The thing that concerned him most about it however was that the lines seemed to be creeping up his arm, making new knots as they went.  
  
'Ah, I see you've discovered my little, 'creation' as it were,' the specter said, a smirk evident in its voice.  
  
"What is this?" Jack shouted, waving his left arm about.  
  
'Let's just call it a little, 'souvenir' from the time I spend inside of you, Jack,' the voice said good-naturedly. 'And it's not all that bad looking, really. And it's not like you don't have other tattoos. This one's just a little bit more.......special.'  
  
"Why does my skin crawl when ye say that ye bleedin' bastard?" Jack seethed, not able to take his mind off of his hand.  
  
'Oh perhaps because you're not a total idiot, as much as you might act like it sometimes,' the voice mocked. 'But one thing's for sure. You most certainly are alone now, Jack. All alone with me,'  
  
Jack didn't want to believe it, but the smallest smidgen of doubt crept into his mind. 'What if it was telling the truth? What if Will and Elizabeth were dead? And bloody Commodore Norrington, can't forget about him, as farfetched as that sounded. What would he do then?' Jack found the thought to horrible to even consider.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: I've stopped going to my "So you're evil, what can we do about it?" support group as some of you may have noticed. And things aren't looking any brighter in the coming chapters either, ladies and gentlemen. Just know this, this story is already more 50 pages long, and I feel no closer to the end than I was 40 pages ago. So not all is lost. 


	9. Chapter 8: Seperation and Shattered Psyc...

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I still don't see my name in the credits no matter how many times I watch them, so I guess that means they aren't mine. Damn.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and a few special guests just for fun.  
  
Author's Note: Continued thanks to Miss B. for betaing, gypsy and Halia for lending their much appreciated support, and to all of you for reading my not so little fic any longer and letting me know that you like it. Thanks a million!!! The cyber rum is on me!!!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for bloody violence, naughty language, and pure undiluted angst in the worst way. I make no apologies for it.  
  
Chapter 8: Separation and Shattered Psyches  
  
Furiously coughing bitter tasting seawater out of his lungs, Will Turner raised up on his hands and knees and laid his heavy head on the wet sand, not caring that his face was now most likely covered in the stuff. All he wanted to do was to rest, to sleep for a year. He had never felt more exhausted in all his life. All he had to do was close his eyes......he shot up suddenly as he remembered himself, and what he was doing. Taking a look around him, he saw that he had washed up on some sandy beach. But where was Elizabeth? And Norrington! "Oh God, I let her go. I let her go," he moaned to himself, not seeing a glimpse of either of them. He would be saddened if Norrington had been lost to the sea, but Elizabeth.......just thinking about never being able to see her face again broke something deep inside of him that he didn't think he could live without.  
  
Rising to his feet, refusing to give into the nausea that threatened to topple him back onto the sand, he squinted in the now bright sunlight, the storm only a distant nightmare on the horizon. He looked up and down the beach, but when he saw no sign of either Norrington or Elizabeth, his heart dropped to his stomach.  
  
"Oh God, where are they!" he muttered to himself. "Elizabeth! James! Where are you?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, praying that someone would hear his call. He cast a backward glance at the sea and saw no sign of the Saviour. But wait.......a flash of something in the water. "Oh God," Will moaned as he got a better glimpse of what it was. Turning and running as fast as he could into the crashing waves he swam out to where he had seen the body.  
  
His face lack and motionless, Norrington floated about 30 feet from shore, his body bobbing and down in the relentless surf. Will swam out to him and grabbed his shirt collar firmly, dragging the both of them back to shore. He then pulled Norrington as far up on the beach as he could with his waning strength before collapsing back on the sand to catch his breath. Something he noticed Norrington wasn't doing.  
  
"James? Are you alright? Come on, talk to me. You're the sailor here, not me. I'm only a blacksmith, no matter what's in my blood. You're the one who's supposed to take to the water like a fish, not me. Although, breathing in the water like a fish wasn't such a good idea on your part, man. Now come on, it's not that hard. Just breathe. You've been doing it all your life, I know you know how," Will pat Norrington soundly on the back and nearly fell over in shock when he heard the other man cough hoarsely.  
  
"You're right; I am the sailor here, Mr. Turner. And don't you forget it," Norrington mumbled into the sand almost too quietly for Will to hear. A bright smile lit up Will's face for a moment, but it quickly fell away as Norrington started coughing furiously, and he remembered that Elizabeth was still out there somewhere.  
  
"Are you alright, James?" Whatever answer Norrington might have given was prevented by the horrible hacking his entire form was currently engaged in. Just looking at him shaking under the force of the coughs made Will wince in sympathy. "Do you think you can stand up and come with me? We both need to get dry. And soon,"  
  
"Where----where is Elizabeth?" Norrington finally managed to say after taking a few wheezing breaths that worried Will more than he was willing to admit at this point in time.  
  
Will frowned and cast an eye back out into the sea. "I don't know, James. I fear she may be lost to us."  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth sat up on suspiciously solid ground and looked around. "This isn't a ship. Oh God, what happened to the ship!" she shouted, turning her head quickly from side to side, scanning the ocean hoping to get a glimpse of the Saviour. That turned out to be a mistake as the back of her head and shoulders screamed pain-filled exclamations in her ears. 'What had happened? Where were Will and James?' The sea offered no answers, and the storm that had assailed them was long gone. The last thing she could remember was screaming as she looked up and saw the looming figure of the main mast bearing down on her. She shivered at a mixture of the cold and of the memory, and crossed her arms over her chest, holding herself tight. "Where is everyone? Was I the only one to survive? Oh God, that can't be true. Will, James. Where are you?"  
  
After sitting on the wet sand for a minute or two longer, tears running down her cheeks at the thought of being on this seemingly deserted island alone, she thought long and hard about her situation and got decidedly angry at herself. "What am I doing just sitting here on the beach crying like one of the simpering morons back home? I've got to get up and do something about this! I don't know for sure if Will and James are gone! I haven't even bothered to look for them yet!" Rising to her feet, a purpose in her eyes and her wet skirts gathered in her hands, she chose a direction to walk down the beach and got walking. She wouldn't stop until she had traveled the length of the whole island, even if she died trying.  
  
***  
  
Sitting on the sand next to the lined up bodies of his friends and crewmates, Jack stared at what the specter had called its creation, a souvenir on his left arm, flexing his now black middle and ring fingers and hand. It didn't look like any tattoo he had ever seen before, and although it hadn't changed while he had been looking at it, he thought it should have for some reason. He knew though that if he stared at it long enough however, his eyes would indeed trick him into thinking that it had changed when it hadn't, so he took his eyes off of it and looked out to sea.  
  
Putting it out of sight didn't necessarily put it out of mind however, and Jack couldn't help but wonder what its purpose was. The specter had said it was a souvenir from the time he had spent inside of him, but was that all it was? Or did it serve some darker purpose of which Jack was yet unaware? And did he have any way of preventing the specter from entering his body, or was he merely helpless to stop its onslaughts? All important questions, but the sea offered up no answers. She merely remained the inconstant and ever changing force that it always had been, reluctant to give up her secrets even to someone as loyal to her as Jack was.  
  
Jack was somewhat annoyed at the sea's apparent tight-lipped mood about his questions, but he had hardly expected otherwise. While she had treated him well so far, the sea was a fickle mistress to be sure, and not to be taken lightly. He turned toward his beloved Pearl, merely to reassure himself that she was still there, and his eyes widened in shock. "No, it's not possible. This is that accursed specter's work, I know it. Don't let it get to ye Jack. It isn't real," The Pearl's sails were once more torn ragged and an ill-looking fog seemed to emanate from the ship itself, cloaking it in mystery. She looked just has she had under Barbossa's reign. She was the ghost ship of legend once more.  
  
Jack shut his eyes tightly, trying to will the vision away. He tried to picture the ship as she was now. Her sails full and beautiful, an ebony cloud above a clear blue sky, the dark wood that with the dark sails helped give her her name gleaming in the sunlight. This was what his ship looked like. This was her glory. But as hard he tried to picture the Pearl in her prime, his thoughts kept returning to how she had been; a ship that with her tattered sails seeming to sail on dark magic alone. Cracking an eye open, hoping to see his beloved ship once again how she was, not how she had been, he was assailed with yet another horrible image rowing up on shore to greet him. "It's not possible," finally muttering to the man who now stood before him while struggling to his feet.  
  
"What was it ye said, Jack? Ye've such a way with words. Ye always have. Oh yes, I remember, it's not probable. Yet here I am," the man smirked at him, turning to pet the chattering monkey on his shoulder at the mention of *his* name.  
  
"You're dead, Barbossa. I bleedin' put the shot into you all by my onsies, and if you think I'm gonna fall for this ye bleedin' specter you don't know Captain Jack Sparrow!" he shouted, doing his best to ignore the form of Hector Barbossa, his late mutinous first mate.  
  
"I always knew ye were mad, Jack. A mad sparrow that is what you are. I know nothing of specters, but I do know something or other about curses. And thanks to Jack here, I live again when I should have died," he petted the monkey who shared his Christian name and gestured to the single piece of Aztec gold suspended on a silver chain from his neck. It was dissimilar to the one Elizabeth had, but oh so familiar, and it made Jack groan. "And that's not all," he walked back down the beach to his boat and viciously pulled another figure out of it and up the sand that Jack had not noticed.  
  
"Elizabeth," he whispered, not believing his eyes. She was sopping wet, her clothes tattered and torn. She looked as if she had been through hell. "What has happened to you?"  
  
"Oh Jack, I'm so glad you're alright," a stern glare from Barbossa cut off any other comments she might have made about Jack's health, but she went on speaking anyway. "We were coming to rescue you. Will and even Norrington, if you can believe that. But we were caught in a terrible storm, and our ship was destroyed. I don't know what has happened to Will or James, but I fear they may both be dead," she finally said, stifling a sob.  
  
The notion that one of his few surviving friends might be dead chipped away another piece of the narrowing ledge of sanity that Jack found himself precariously balanced on. A few more hits and he would tumble into the abyss, most likely never to return. "Are ye sure, Elizabeth?" he asked quietly, and Barbossa laughed to hear the frightened tremor in his voice.  
  
"I tell ye this, Jack. I've seen no signs of the ship they supposedly sailed on, I had to walk meself," Jack didn't know what to make of that statement, but Barbossa went on without explanation. "I found young Miss," he paused and looked at her. "You're not Miss Turner lass, just who are you?" he asked, having never considered that he didn't know her real name before.  
  
"My name is Elizabeth Swann you bastard," she cursed vilely, spitting at the ground at Barbossa's feet, and it lightened Jack's heart to see her stand up to Barbossa so.  
  
Barbossa however was unamused, and backhanded Elizabeth viciously across the mouth, sending her sprawling to the ground, spitting a bloody tooth onto the sand. "Looks like I'll have to get my first gold one like you now, Jack," she joked with a musical laugh, causing Jack to smile widely at the thought, showing off all his own golden teeth in the sunlight. Barbossa cut off her laughter quickly as he pulled her to her feet by her hair, causing her to gasp in pain. "Unhand me you bastard!" she shouted through the pain.  
  
"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely insulted, was that I found young Miss Swann her walked the beach, searching for your lost comrades as it were. I could not just leave her unattended, t'would be ungentlemanly of me, so I thought it'd be best to pick her up. Imagine my surprise when I saw the Pearl in the harbor and ye yerself sitting on the beach clear as day, Jack. I had always thought it was you who had the unexplainable luck, not me," Barbossa said with a laugh.  
  
"I don't care what it takes, Barbossa. I will kill you again, and this time I'll make sure and burn your body to ash and scatter it among all the seven seas," Jack spit out, still not fully believing that Barbossa was real, but not fully disbelieving it either. He had seen stranger things in his life, only one of them being undead cursed pirates.  
  
"Ah Jack, I didn't know ye cared. Warms the cockles of me dead heart to hear ye'll be taking care of my body so faithfully. 'Course, ye'll not be having that chance since ye'll be dead, now will ye?' Barbossa said, pulling his pistol out of his belt and aiming it at Jack's chest.  
  
Jack didn't have time to move, Barbossa had him in his sights. The game of life and death had been played, and Jack had finally lost. With a quick glance at Elizabeth, he felt some relief. At least he wouldn't die alone on this godforsaken island with only Barbossa and a specter for companions. 'Where is that bleeding specter anyway? Why hasn't it showed up to gloat?' All these thoughts took place in merely an instant, his body racing with adrenaline as his last card had been played. He was going to die.  
  
Barbossa smiled coldly and put his finger to the trigger. Jack refused to close his eyes, determined to meet his fate like a man. He was Captain Jack Sparrow, for God's sake! He would not go gently into the night. "Ye know what Jack, I've changed my mind. I'm not going to shoot you after all," Barbossa said with a smile, lowering the pistol a little. Jack frowned, not believing his ears, his eyes focussed on the second pistol at Barbossa's belt. If he could just get to it, or to one of the crew's pistols....... "I think I'll shoot the lovely Miss Swann here instead for all the trouble she caused me." Before Jack could make a move against him, Barbossa had turned and fired the weapon towards Elizabeth. At such close proximity, there had been no chance of missing, and Elizabeth fell down to the sand, the front of her dress a torn and bloody mess.  
  
"Jack," she whispered, a trail of blood running down her chin from her open mouth. "I'll be sure and say hello to Will for you, in heaven. Kill Barbossa. For me," and with that final command, she fell back onto the sand, lifeless, her beautiful brown eyes staring up at the clear blue sky above her, seeing no more.  
  
Jack broke. There was no other way to describe it. Seeing Elizabeth's body go still upon the sand caused something to crumble to pieces behind his eyes. Perhaps it was the last remnants of his sanity.  
  
Barbossa could see what was happening behind Jack's eyes, and he didn't like it one bit. The man had never looked as dangerous before as he did now. Barbossa found himself taking a step back before he knew what he was doing, taking the second pistol out of his belt and aiming it at Jack. Somehow, the position of having a pistol aimed at his former captain didn't seem as safe now as it had before he had killed Miss Swann.  
  
"Now Jack, ye don't want to be doing anything stupid now. I've still got the pistol and I've no qualms 'gainst sending you to join Miss Swann." If Jack had heard the threat he paid it no mind. He merely walked over to where Elizabeth lay, closed her open eyes with a gentle swipe of his hand, and walked back over to where he had laid the dead bodies of his crew mates. He stopped in front of Annamaria's body and knelt over her. Kissing her on the forehead, he whispered something that Barbossa couldn't hear. His arm trembled as Jack stood with Annamaria's sword clenched in his hand. He then turned and made his way back down to Barbossa, his dark eyes cold and lifeless, his long black hair fluttering behind him in an unfelt wind.  
  
If Barbossa had been a religious man, he would have crossed himself upon seeing the sight of his former captain bearing down upon him, sword in hand like some kind of avenging angel. His finger pulled tight against the trigger in fear, a completely new experience for him. Never before had he truly felt fear. Not until he met Jack's eyes and saw for the first time what a man who had truly gone insane really looked like. The pistol went off loudly, the bullet whizzing by Jack's head close enough to take a long strand of his ebony hair with it. But Jack never made a move. He continued his slow walk towards Barbossa as if he had just shot a kiss at him instead of a bullet.  
  
Now weaponless save for his own sword, Barbossa pulled it out hurriedly and waved it a few times in front of Jack who didn't even look down at it and merely kept on coming. "Stand back, Jack! Ye know I'm a better fighter than ye are!" Barbossa yelled, hoping to talk some sense into this mad looking zombie of a man before him.  
  
"Ye're nothing. Ye're dead and so am I. This is hell and I'm the guest of honor," Jack finally spoke, stopping to stand in front of Barbossa before swinging his sword at him with all his strength. It was everything Barbossa could do not to drop his sword onto the sand under the pure raw power and rage behind Jack's swing.  
  
Suddenly a thought occurred to him as he was defending Jack's ever increasingly vicious blows. He couldn't die. A sword could not kill him. Jack could not kill him.  
  
"Give it up Jack. We've been through this already, ye can't kill me. And now ye don't have a piece of the treasure like last time. If I kill you now, you don't come back. I find I rather like the sound of that," he moved in to thrust his sword through Jack's body as he had done in the treasure cave, but then Jack did something unexpected.  
  
Barbossa's severed head went flying through the air, hitting the sand and rolling a good distance before finally coming to rest, an utterly shocked look still on its face. Barbossa's body slumped to the ground, and went still.  
  
Jack laughed maniacally, his bloodied sword falling from his fingertips. He then slumped to the sand and clutched his head between his hands. "Come back from that, ye bleeding bastard!" he shouted at the top of his lungs through his laughter. He had fallen off the edge and he no longer cared. There was nothing else left in the world that he cared about. Nothing else was worth living for, and everything in the world was worth dying for.  
  
His laughter finally abating somewhat, Jack felt a moment of lucidity wash over him and knew what he had to do. He crawled over on his hands and knees to where Ana lay and grabbed the pistol out of her belt, whispering thanks and kissing her on the forehead once more as he had done when he had taken her sword. It was only right that he die by Ana's weapon after all. "Goodbye my friends," he said to the bodies of all that lay on the beach. He even included Barbossa in the salutation, for he had indeed once been a trusted friend. "Hopefully I'll see you all again someday. Perhaps even today," he cocked the pistol and placed the muzzle under his chin, the beads of his plaited beard clinking against the metal of the gun.  
  
"Jack! My God, what are you doing! Give me the gun!" a voice shouted at him breathlessly from the beach. He didn't turn. He wouldn't turn. It had sounded like Elizabeth and she was dead. They were all dead and not coming back. He placed a finger on the trigger.  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth had been walking up the beach for what seemed like hours with no luck. She had seen no trace of Will or James and she was about to give up hope when she heard a voice. At first, she had thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her because for a second there it had sounded an awful lot like Jack's.  
  
Her pace increasing in case her ears weren't playing tricks on her, she raced towards the sound and instead of fading away like illusions do, it merely got louder and louder the faster she ran. It sounded as if Jack was arguing with someone. That, or he was merely talking to himself for however close she got to the sound, and however more clear it became, she could hear no answer to his arguments.  
  
"Jack! Is that you?!" she called down the beach. If Jack had heard her however, he made no answer. That was of course assuming that it was indeed Jack's voice she heard. She prayed fervently that it was. Suddenly, an image presented itself to her eyes about one hundred yards away. Jack was swinging something shiny in the sunlight that must have been a sword. He looked as if he was having a fight with someone, but there was no one there fighting with him. "Oh Jack," she whispered and sped her pace up considerably.  
  
She nearly sobbed relief as she saw that Jack wasn't an illusion the closer she got to him. He was real, and when she turned her head out to sea she saw the Black Pearl in all its glory firmly anchored in the bay. It was truly him! She could hear him still arguing with whatever he was fighting with, although she could still see no other person there besides him, and then the laughter came.  
  
Oh God, if she never heard such a thing in her life every again she could die a happy woman. Jack slumped to the ground laughing insanely, and it sent a chill through Elizabeth's form. When he yelled, "Come back from that, ye bleeding bastard!" Elizabeth gasped in shock, but didn't slow her pace any. If Jack truly had gone insane, she had to get to him as soon as possible.  
  
Finally reaching him, she gasped once more again in shock to see Jack holding what certainly looked like a loaded pistol underneath his chin. "Jack! My God, what are you doing! Give me the gun!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She couldn't believe it! Captain Jack Sparrow actually giving up and resorting to suicide! What had happened while he had been gone? Her eyes traveling to the ground beside him, she saw the lined up bodies of Jack's crew, a hand flew up to her mouth in shock and she had to hold back a wretch at the horror of it all. 'This would drive any man to suicide,' she thought with a grimace. But she wasn't going to let it drive this man. Running with all her might as she saw that Jack had ignored her and not dropped the gun, she barreled into him just as the pistol went off.  
  
Elizabeth lay on top of Jack, using all her strength to pin him to the ground lest he get up and find another pistol, her chest heaving as she attempted to catch her breath. If she had been any slower Jack might have been dead. Finally raising herself up on her arms, she leaned over Jack and saw that he had his eyes closed and his head turned to the side. What she saw on his face told her exactly just how close he had come to doing himself in.  
  
A deep bloody groove tore its way up Jack's cheek where the bullet had traveled. If she hadn't moved his arm any further, that bullet would have been lodged in his brain and not flying up through the sky. "Oh God, Jack. Why did you do this? Elizabeth asked him as she tore a long strip from the edge of her skirt and placed it upon Jack's ruined cheek. He moaned under her fingertips.  
  
"Ye're not real, no one's real. I'm not real. We're all dead and this is hell," Jack murmured, opening his eyes to look up at her. Elizabeth recoiled at what she saw when she looked into them. This was no longer her friend, Captain Jack Sparrow. She didn't know what had happened to him but never before had he truly matched what the books had written about him.  
  
Falling backwards in shock, she got up on her hands and started backing away from him as quickly as she could in her long skirts. Jack had gone truly mad. More so than ever before, and it didn't look like he would be coming back from it any time soon.  
  
"What's wrong, Elizabeth?" he asked mockingly as he raised up and crawled towards her, the makeshift bandage sticking to his bloodied face. "Ye're not real, ye have nothing to be afraid of. Also, this being hell and all, neither of us can die, savvy?" he chuckled. "Savvy, savvy, savvy," he said over and over again, repeating it to himself like a small child.  
  
"I am real Jack, please listen to me. This isn't hell. We're both alive and you're frightening me," she said with a small whimper of fear. She kept backing up down towards the crashing waves of the beach, but she really had no defense if he decided to turn on her.  
  
Suddenly though, Jack stopped all movement, save for his eyes scanning wildly across the beach. "What have ye done with them?" he asked, and Elizabeth might have believed he was quite sane were it not for the look in his eyes.  
  
"Done with whom, Jack?" Elizabeth whispered, doing her best to humor him.  
  
"Barbossa. And the other you," he motioned to places on the beach vaguely. "They were right here. What have ye done with them?"  
  
"I didn't do anything with them Jack. There's no one there," Elizabeth whispered, her voice trembling with fear.  
  
"What have ye done with them?!" Jack yelled, grabbing Elizabeth's shoulders on either side of her body and shaking her roughly.  
  
"Jack please, you're hurting me!" Elizabeth yelled sitting up so she could raise he hands to push Jack away. "There is no one else here but us! Now I don't know what's happened to you, but I'm your friend! You don't want to hurt me," she said the last softly, trying to reinforce this into Jack's shattered mind.  
  
"No, I would never want to hurt Elizabeth," Jack agreed, again in a childlike manner that made Elizabeth's skin crawl. "But you're not real, are you? If you're not real, then I can't hurt you. Right?" Jack shrunk in on himself at the question. "I don't want to hurt Miss Elizabeth," he whispered. "I never want to hurt any one again. I just want it to stop. Everyone's dead, why can't I be too?" he moaned and placed his hands against his head and rocked back and forth slowly. "They're all dead. I'm alone. God, I don't want to be alone."  
  
"You're not alone, Jack," Elizabeth said, and with a deep breath moved closer to him. He seemed to be calmed down a little at least. Still insane, that seemed to be unavoidable for now, but at least he didn't seem to be angry anymore. And seeing him in such a childlike and vulnerable state, the indomitable Captain Jack Sparrow, made her want to hold him close to her chest and sooth his fears away.  
  
She reached out tentatively and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm here Jack. I'm not going to leave you. We'll get through this together," she vowed. He turned to her and his liquid brown eyes locked with her own, and she gave a small smile.  
  
"You won't leave me then?" he asked again in that same frightened little boy voice that made her soul ache.  
  
"No, I won't leave you, Jack. I promise. Now let's see if we can do something about that cut," he merely nodded and let her look at it, while she prayed fervently that wherever Will and James were, they would find them soon.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Oh wow, that chapter was a bit of a doozey, huh? And 10 pages long, dear me. Sorry for any emotional trauma reading this chapter might have caused you. It certainly caused me a boatload to write it. Anyway, please send me your reviews. I greatly appreciate them!! 


	10. Chapter 9: Illness and Inopportune Momen...

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I still don't see my name in the credits no matter how many times I watch them, so I guess that means they aren't mine. Damn.  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and the hated voice that still remains mysterious.  
  
Author's Note: I've given Elizabeth more insight into insanity that anyone from that time period would normally have for the sake of the story. It's more interesting this way, trust me.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 and continues to be an all out angst fest. I make no apologies for it. Well, maybe a few.  
  
Pairings: If some J/E moments come about in this story, don't blame me. Blame the wonderful author of the Deepest Circle, Halia. She corrupted me. ;-)  
  
Chapter 9: Illness and Inopportune Moments  
  
Will grunted in pain as one of the logs he carried in his arms loosened itself from his grip and dropped down on his foot. He didn't dare stop to pick it up however; he had to get back to the beach where he had left Norrington. He had had to pull the man to shore and by the way he had coughed louder and louder with every step, he knew he had to get the other man dry and warm as soon as possible or there was a real chance of developing pneumonia. And if that happened, God forbid it did, Will didn't know what he would do. He wasn't a doctor, he was a blacksmith.  
  
He had never even really been around sick people in all his life. While his mother had died young, it wasn't from illness. She had been thrown from her horse and had broken her next upon hitting the ground. Will found it hard to remember her at times since it had been so long ago. He briefly sent up a prayer to her and asked her to watch over him and his friends. He would have prayed for Elizabeth chiefly, since he didn't know yet whether she lived still or had been lost to the sea, but if Norrington's health was ailing, he would need a good amount of prayer as well. And he couldn't forget about Jack. No, whatever had warned him of Jack's situation in the first place would definitely not let him forget about the pirate captain. Something in him told him that Jack was in more trouble now than he ever had been before, but yet he was curiously unworried. It was as if something or someone was now looking over Jack and had assured him that everything would be fine in the end.  
  
He came upon Norrington lying on his side in the sand, his hacking cough sounding even worse than it had before. "How are you feeling, James?" Will asked softly, laying the small stack of what dry wood he could find after such a storm at his feet.  
  
"I won't lie to you, Will. I've been better," the man wheezed and coughed again, the sound wet and deep in his chest. "I fear I may have swallowed some sea water and that is now what is causing these wretched coughs." As if to illustrate his point, Norrington once more broke into a series of deep rattling coughs that looked as if they would break the man in half from the force of them.  
  
Will immediately rushed to the man's side and sat behind him, pulling Norrington up to lean against his chest. "Just keep concentrating on breathing in and out and you'll be all right, James," Will said loudly over the man's coughs. "I know it's difficult, but I can't have you stop breathing on me, now can I? You've already done it once, and that was one too many times in my book. So you just keep breathing and I'll try and start a fire to get us dry and warm, savvy?"  
  
Norrington's coughs finally abated as he was able to breathe easier in the upright position Will held him in. He turned his head slightly to the right and spoke over his shoulder, "I swear I'll keep breathing as long as you never say that word again, Will," he said with a small smile that belied his serious tone.  
  
"What word?" Will asked in an innocent tone. He then made a gasp as if Norrington had affronted his dignity. "I most certainly did not curse, you scoundrel!" he imitated the Governor as best as he could to affect the right tone of voice.  
  
Norrington let out a short bark of laughter at this which was what Will had been aiming for all along. "You bloody well know which word I mean, Mr. Turner," he said sternly. "That Captain Sparrow is a bad influence on your vocabulary. Just what in the blazes does *savvy* mean anyway?"  
  
"You know what, I'm not entirely sure. You'll have to ask Jack when we see him," Will refused to let his optimism die. He had no doubt whatsoever that they would see his pirate friend again soon, and that Norrington would be able to ask his question. "That is, if he doesn't keel over in either shock or laughter at hearing the word savvy out of your mouth," Will said with a smile.  
  
"Indeed," was Norrington's only response.  
  
"Do you think you can sit up without my help, or do you want me to lie you back down on the ground?" Will asked, turning their minds back to the situation at hand. Will still had his hands clasped firmly around the other man's chest, holding him upright when he couldn't manage the feat on his own.  
  
"I'm not sure," Norrington finally admitted after a long pause. He hated admitting weakness in front of anyone. Even a friend, which he now considered Will to be without doubt.  
  
"Alright. I'm going to push you up a little straighter, and we'll see if you can do the rest on your own. And don't worry, I'll be right behind you should you fall," Will said kindly and Norrington couldn't help a smile. What had he done to deserve such a loyal friend? More importantly, what had Sparrow done? It was a conversation he fully intended to have with the pirate captain the next time he saw him; hopefully soon for all their sakes.  
  
Norrington managed to sit upright on his own, just. Once Will saw that he wasn't going to topple over backward onto the sand he moved away from him and went over to the large pile of logs he had collected. Norrington even noticed that most of them were pretty much dry, which was quite a feat considering the storm that had taken the Saviour and nearly all its crew. Will soon returned carrying a large log which he placed behind Norrington and instructed the military man to lean against.  
  
"Thank you, Will," Norrington said once he was as comfortable as was possible sitting on the hard wet sand and leaning against an equally hard if not as wet log.  
  
"I'm sure you'd do the same for me," Will said with a smile in Norrington's direction. "Now, let's see if I can't get a fire started so we can both get dry, alright? I just want you to sit there and try and stay still. Can you breathe alright? You swallowed a bit of seawater, and I'm worried that it still might be in your lungs. You know what that would mean if it was, don't you?" Will asked quietly, stacking a few of the dryer logs into a small circle for a fire.  
  
"It means that I could develop pneumonia if I'm not extremely lucky." Norrington ended his statement with another round of wrenching coughs that made both men wince; Norrington in pain, and Will in sympathy and worry. "I certainly don't sound very good, now do I?" Norrington asked, smiling wryly when the coughing had abated.  
  
Will merely snorted and rolled his eyes at the other man's odd sense of timing in which to develop a sense of humor. Death could be knocking right now, God forbid, and the man was joking. The action of laughing in the face of death and danger reminded him so much of Jack that it made his chest ache in sorrow for his lost friend. But no, he wouldn't think on him right now. For if he did, his thoughts would soon lead to Elizabeth and he feared that once he fully thought of the fact that she may very well be lost to him forever, he would lose what little control he was hanging on to the moment and he couldn't afford that. Norrington couldn't afford that. So he would persevere. He would remain strong and in control until Norrington was out of danger and either Jack was rescued or it was discovered that he was looking after Elizabeth in the afterlife. It was only then that he would let himself mourn.  
  
Will built up the fire he had created, hoping that the warm air Norrington inhaled would help dry out some of the water that surely remained in his lungs. Hope. That was all he had left at this point. He had to hope that everything would be alright. He had to fight the grim thought that Elizabeth was dead. She was strong, she would survive. He had to hold on to that hope or go mad.  
  
***  
  
Jack had gone mad. There was no easy way of saying it. Jack had gone utterly and completely, although hopefully not permanently mad. Fortunately for Elizabeth, he was sitting quietly in the sand save for a few mumbled exclamations of how he had gone to hell and dong everything she told him to do. She had cleaned as much blood off of his face as she could without water. The saltwater from the ocean would only inflame the gouge on his cheek and cause him more pain, and Elizabeth didn't think she could deal with that right now. But unless she got the wound as clean as possible, there was a real chance of it becoming infected. Fortunately for her and perhaps for Jack as well, when the bullet had shot along his cheek, the heat of it had cauterized the wound and stopped the bleeding.  
  
"Just sit there still ok, Jack? I know this hurts, but I have to do it. It will be over soon, I promise," Elizabeth purposefully kept her voice even and calm, speaking to the pirate captain as if he were a small child. Speaking in this manner helped keep him calm and somewhat in control, but she hadn't even attempted to address the madness that currently gripped his mind. She thought it was best to deal with the situation one problem at a time, and right now the wound on Jack's cheek needed immediate attention. It needed stitches, and soon, and he would have an ugly scar there for the rest of his life. A permanent reminder of a time he would probably not choose to remember in the future. Elizabeth knew she wouldn't want to. That is, if he didn't try and kill himself again.  
  
She cast a quick glance over the various weapon laden bodies and frowned. With Jack being mad, she would have to collect all the weapons and put them somewhere safe should he decide to either attempt suicide again, or equally horrible, come after her. Either way, the weapons would have to go. She would keep a sword and perhaps a pistol or two to defend herself, just in case, but she had to keep them out of Jack's hands. She would have to find a way to remove his own sword and pistol from him without upsetting him. She knew the task wouldn't be an easy one.  
  
Casting a glance down to his waist where he kept his sword and pistol, Elizabeth frowned to see that they weren't there. His faded and tattered red and white sash was tied securely to his waist like always, but his weapons weren't there. Her glance shot back up to his face in a questioning glance and her eyes widened to see that his red sash wasn't around his head either and his hat seemed to have disappeared. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. Jack's long black hair hung to its full length for the first time since she had known him, a wild tangled mane of braids and beads that only helped to make him seem even more insane. By God, it was even parted neatly down the middle. Elizabeth thought her jaw would fall to the ground forgotten in her shock.  
  
"Jack, what happened to your red sash? The one you wear on your head?" Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from asking.  
  
"Ana, it's Ana's.......she wanted it.......said I looked better without.......God Ana........she has it," Jack continued to mumbled on too quietly for Elizabeth to hear. It wasn't exactly coherent, but he still seemed to be somewhat lucid and in control as he had answered her question to the best of his current ability. She didn't want to press him further than his ability to answer at the moment, and she certainly didn't want to upset him any further with mentions of Ana, but she had to continue with her questions while he was somewhat able to answer them.  
  
She knew she had to be oh so careful, though. She was walking barefoot on a sword's edge when it came to dealing with him. Jack was a man to fear when he was sane, well mostly sane anyway, but now that he was mad, without control and inhibitions, now he was dangerous.  
  
"Where are your weapons Jack? Did Ana take those too?" Elizabeth asked as quietly and calmly as she could, trying with all her might to keep Jack as even-keeled as possible when it came to mentions of Ana. From what she had been able to figure out in his uttered mumblings, Ana had died in his arms. If that had happened to her, if she had had to hold Will in her arms as the life slipped away from him, helpless to do anything but watch.......she shuddered. She would have broken. The mere thought of such a thing happening threatened to break her, but to go through it for real.......the thought was sobering. That Jack retained even the smallest bit of himself after facing that was nearly unbelievable. Elizabeth's respect for the pirate captain grew tenfold.  
  
Jack shifted his weight back and forth repeatedly like a child fidgeting under a parent's stern glare and looked up from where he was sitting cross- legged in the sand sheepishly. "Lost 'em," was all he had to say.  
  
Elizabeth fought down the urge to groan. In the short time she had been dealing with him in this state, Jack gravitated between three personalities. The first was frightened and nearly incoherent. She had witnessed it when he talked about Ana and what had happened to him and his crew. The second was the child-like state he seemed to revert into whenever he couldn't deal with the memories thinking of Ana and his crew brought. From what she could figure out, it was like a shield he put up around him to shut out the outside world, and it made her heart ache to see him so. And the third.......the third she had only seen once, and she would be eternally grateful if that would remain the only time. In that third state he seemed to become suicidal and violent and it was all she could do to restrain him, try and talk him out of it, or just head for high water.  
  
"Where did you lose them, Jack?" she asked sternly but gently and leaned away from his face and sat on her heels in the sand.  
  
"In the dark place. Don't wanna go in there again. The voice is there waiting for me," Jack whispered as if he was afraid of being overheard.  
  
A voice in the cave waiting for him? This was new. "What voice, Jack? What are you talking about?"  
  
'Don't tell her, Jack. People who reveal secrets get punished," the voice whispered to him slowly.  
  
"Not supposed to tell. He told me not to tell. Said I would get punished," Jack whispered, his eyes wide and even more childlike as the dark rings of kohl had been washed away with what looked like tears. "And he can punish, Miss Elizabeth. He has before," Jack continued even softer than before, and Elizabeth had to lean in close to him to catch the words.  
  
What new hell had Jack found himself in now? He was hearing voices? Elizabeth briefly sent up a prayer for what small bit of sanity remained in Jack's shattered mind. "Wait, he's punished you? How has he punished you?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes widening. What had Jack done to himself now?  
  
Jack cocked his head as if listening to someone and then pulled up the sleeve of his shirt on his left arm up past his elbow. Elizabeth gasped at what she saw there; the most beautiful and intricate tattoo she had ever seen. It started on Jack's middle and ring fingers and wound its way up his arm in a series of complicated and twisted knots, none of them looking messy and tangled like you would expect knots to be, but each one beautiful and mysteriously complicated. It didn't look new. Had Jack had it when she first met him? She knew he had the sparrow tattoo on his right forearm, the stories of him made sure to mention such a distinguishing mark, but why was there no mention of this? Especially when it was easily 10 times as distinguishing and striking as the sparrow tattoo was? How had no one noticed it?  
  
"When did you get this, Jack? How come I've never seen it before?" Elizabeth asked, tracing a finger on the intricately woven black lines. Jack pulled his arm back with a hiss in pain between clenched teeth upon contact as if she had burned him. "What's wrong now, Jack?" Elizabeth asked, a bit startled at his reaction.  
  
"This was my punishment. I was bad. The voice gave it to me. It gets bigger when he's inside. I don't like it when he's inside, Miss Elizabeth," she couldn't get him to stop calling her that while he was in this state but she had certainly not lacked in trying. "It hurts. He hurts me. And he can hurt you too. He hurt.......her," by her he meant Ana. He wouldn't say her name while he was like this either.  
  
"What do you mean it gets bigger? It's a tattoo, Jack. It doesn't change. Not unless you're the one to change it," Elizabeth said calmly and slowly, once more too keep her voice as free from irritation as possible.  
  
"It's not a tattoo, you daft bint!" Jack yelled, and Elizabeth gasped in shock. "I know what tattoos bloody well are, I have quite a few of them as you know. You being the expert on everything Jack Sparrow, isn't that right? You've read all about me. All about the things I've done the people I've killed. Do you know what it's like to kill a man, Elizabeth? Of course you don't. You're just a silly girl who's in way over her head." He got up from his seated position on his hands and knees and crawled over to where she was still kneeling, close enough for her to feel his hot breath on her cheek. "Let me tell you about it, Elizabeth. It's the most liberating experience I've ever felt before. The feeling as you watch the life slip out of another man's eyes after you've shot him or run him through, I prefer the second actually. I like to be up close like when I kill a man. Kind of how we are now. Did I ever tell you that? I like to hear man's last breath as he dies at my hand. I revel in it. That's who I am. That's the pirate I am. I know you're pretty little head is full of romantic notions of what a pirate is and does, but let me tell you, that's all they are; romantic notions. In reality, pirates are brutal, unfeeling monsters of men who would be as likely to kill you as to talk to you. Just, like, me."  
  
Jack drawled out the last statement, coming even closer to her than before, and she couldn't help but be drawn into the dark obsidian pools of his eyes. This was it. This was what madness looked like. Elizabeth couldn't fathom what she had done to set him off like this. One minute he was calling her Miss Elizabeth and for all the world acting like a small child, and now this.......whatever it was. She had never once been afraid of him, not until now. She fell backwards off of her heels, wincing as her tailbone hit the sand hard.  
  
"What's wrong, Elizabeth? Do I make you nervous? But isn't this how you've always wanted to see me? Mad Jack Sparrow, the ruthless pirate captain from your fairy tales? Well you've got your wish. Here I am," he spread his hands wide and smiled broadly, the image looking horrid with the deep burnt gouge in his right cheek. "And you know what; this is rather like a fairy tale. We've got a heroine, a villain, a shipwreck, and loads of dramatic tension. But there's no happily ever after in sight is there? At least, not for you," Jack moved in closer to her.  
  
Elizabeth knew she had to do something, and soon. This had gone far enough. She was beyond frightened of Jack at this point. No, whoever this person was in front of her saying these awful things was not Jack. If she could be certain of anything at this point in time, it was that. Of course, that didn't help her any. Even if it wasn't Jack doing these things, that didn't stop them from being done. Jack was gone, and she was forced to deal with whoever was left behind. And she didn't trust the man left behind as far as she could throw him.  
  
Quickly turning to her side and climbing to her feet, narrowly avoiding Jack's hand trying to grab her ankle, she ran and grabbed the closest pistol she could find, and pointed it at him. "Just stop right there. Stop what you're doing right now," Elizabeth said, her hand wavering a bit under the weight of the pistol.  
  
"Or what? You'll shoot me?" Jack questioned mockingly. "I don't believe you, Miss Elizabeth. In your heart you're a coward, relying on others to protect you. Me, Will, Commodore Norrington. You couldn't do anything to protect yourself if your life depended on it. Which unfortunately for you, does this time. I'm dreadfully sorry, Miss Elizabeth," Jack said with a wicked smirk.  
  
Before Jack could comment again, Elizabeth flipped the pistol in her hand so that she was holding the barrel tightly in a clenched fist. She then raised her hand high above her head and cracked Jack soundly on the temple with the butt of the pistol. He dropped to the sand as if she had removed all the bones from his body.  
  
Upon seeing his still body hit the sand, the side of his head a bloody mess where she had hit it, the pistol fell loosely from her grip and bounced on the sand at her feet, but she paid it no notice. She fell to her knees and retched her last meal onto the sand in front of her face. When she was finished she wiped a dirty hand across her mouth and felt that her face was wet with tears. "Oh God, Jack I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. Please don't be dead, I'm sorry," she knelt over Jack's prone body and shook it roughly. He didn't move. "Oh God, please wake up, Jack. I'm sorry. Don't leave me alone in this place. I'll help you, I won't ever try and hurt you again if you just wake up and talk to me, I promise," Elizabeth pleaded.  
  
Her replies were in vain however, if not for the somewhat shallow rise and fall of his chest to signify that he did indeed still live; Jack might as well have been a corpse.  
  
***  
  
'This has got to be hell,' Norrington thought unhappily. 'No other place than that could let me survive after every one of these God forsaken coughs. That is, if I am surviving. It certainly doesn't feel like it.' Norrington didn't want Will to find out, didn't want him fuss over something he couldn't control, but Norrington feel himself getting worse. With each passing breath it became harder and harder to breathe in again. As it was, his breathing was shallow and painful and only becoming more so as time went by. And he wouldn't be able to hide this fact from Will for much longer which angered him to no end. The man had enough on his plate without having to deal with sick naval commodores. Not that he was necessarily going to remain a commodore after this was all over. That was a risk he was well aware of when he had agreed to help Will find Jack Sparrow, and he had no regrets about that decision now. No, his only regret was that they hadn't taken more men with them to sea. If they had.......if they had Elizabeth might still be alive and the Saviour might still be afloat.  
  
Will might be willing to keep the hope alive that Elizabeth was still alive out there somewhere and waiting for the two of them, but Norrington had always been more of a realistic man than a hopeful dreamer like Will Turner. The two of them had barely survived together, and if Will hadn't been conscious to pull him out of the water, he would most likely have drowned. It occurred to him that he had never fully thanked the young blacksmith for that. Well, if he survived this little adventure, he would certainly have to. But even so, the two of them managed to survive only relying on the other. With Elizabeth out by herself in the raging ocean.......chances weren't good that she had made it. He didn't want to give up hope, he would give anything to be as cheerfully optimistic as Will was right now, but he found he hadn't the energy. One thing was for certain however, if Elizabeth had somehow survived the storm and had washed up on an island like they had, she was much better off.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Angsty, I know. I'm not going to try and soften any blows here, the next chapter is going to be even more so, and I'll have to up the rating a notch. I hope you'll all still be interested to see what I've come up with. Until then, please send me your reviews. Thanks a bunch!! 


	11. Chapter 10: Broken Sparrows and Bleeding...

Broken Wings

A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie

            Disclaimer: Only the voice, Jack's insanity, and Norry's illness are mine. I seem to have gotten the raw end of the deal, huh?    

            Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?   

            Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and the hated voice that still remains mysterious. 

Author's Note: Ok, this chapter was really hard to write, and I'm sure that many of you may not like it for its content. This is probably the angstiest chapter yet, and in this story that's saying quite a lot. 

            RATING: THIS CHAPTER IS RATED R FOR VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL CONTENT!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!  

Chapter 10: Broken Sparrows and Bleeding Swanns 

"James? You need to wake up. I can't handle all of this by myself, please wake up?" Will pleaded with the supine man lying on the sand. Norrington had slipped into a fevered state of unconsciousness and Will had become frantic. The military man had been getting worse and worse with every passing minute and Will was helpless to do anything but watch as the other man's life seemed to slip away from him. There was no question of it now, Norrington was very very sick and without proper treatment he would most likely die. 

Norrington simply muttered under his breath and shuddered, sweat covering his pale brow. Will had covered him with his still slightly damp jacket, but the man still seemed cold and clammy. And a pained glance at the quick approaching twilight didn't give him much hope either. While Caribbean nights were far from cold, he knew the Commodore would benefit from shelter of some kind. Will cursed himself for not thinking of such a thing earlier when Norrington had been awake and able to help, if only in the giving of much needed advice. "What am I supposed to do?" he pleaded with the world around him, "I'm only a blacksmith, not a doctor. I don't know what to do. Please, someone show me what to do," Will had never prayed more fervently in his life. He wasn't necessarily a religious man, but he believed in the idea of God if nothing else, and it was to that idea he now prayed to. Building up the fire as high as he could to keep Norrington dry and warm, he spoke softly, "You just lay here, James. I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise. I'm going to go and get some help," with that promise, Will made sure Norrington was as warm as he could make him, and set out into the growing darkness.

***

Elizabeth sat at Jack's side and calmly brushed away a lock of his dark hair that had stuck to his bloodied temple. She didn't know what to do. Jack had been unconscious for a very long time. She really hadn't meant to hit him so hard. She had only wanted him to leave her alone. He had frightened her and she had only defended herself. That didn't prevent a wave of guilt wash over her at the sight of his bloodied and still body lying on the sand. 

His face was now almost completely covered in blood, and the sight of it made Elizabeth want to retch again. The gouge on his right cheek now clashed horrifically with the ugly place where she had hit him with the butt of the pistol on his left. She vaguely remembered dropping the pistol into the sand after he had fallen, but she felt no inclination to look for it now. The mere thought of holding a pistol in his presence again filled her with disgust. It wasn't his fault he was like this. He certainly didn't ask to be mad, had he? She had had no right to hit him like that. "Jack? Please wake up; I'm sorry I hit you. Please, just open your eyes for me. It's getting dark and I'd rather not be alone right now." After a long couple of moments, Elizabeth simply resigned herself to the silence and pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. 

Her silence was interrupted not five minutes later by a long groan emanating from Jack's lips. Elizabeth watched, mystified, as he rolled over onto his back, a hand rising to feel at his bloodied temple. He hissed in pain upon contact, and Elizabeth immediately moved to his side.  "Jack?" He flinched at the sound of her voice, so she held her breath a minute and whispered, "Jack? Are you alright?"

"World's spinning, it hurts. Everything hurts. Life hurts," Jack mumbled, his eyes firmly clenched and his tattoo-covered left hand still pressed lightly against his injured temple. 

Elizabeth sighed. 'I guess it was too much to hope that my hitting him knocked some sense into him. He's just as mad as he ever was,' as soon as the thought passed through her mind, she was immediately ashamed for ever thinking such a thing. She shouldn't have hit him. This was Jack, her friend. Friends didn't attack one another, no matter what the cause. And Jack was sick, and attacking a sick friend should have been far far beneath someone like her. She fancied herself a polite and upstanding woman in society, she was the daughter of a governor after all, but she had never felt more ashamed of herself than she did right now. Her sense of self-preservation whispered that she was only defending herself from him and didn't do anything wrong, but she ignored it. She was startled out of her thoughts to realize that Jack had been staring at her, his dark eyes filled with pain and betrayal. "Jack?" she asked quietly, moving in closer to him, and frowning when he flinched away. 

"Miss Elizabeth hurt me. Why did Miss Elizabeth hurt me? Was I bad? Was I punished? Were you sent to punish me like the voice does?" he asked in a fearful voice, his eyes wide and frightened. Elizabeth nearly let out a sob to see the pirate captain in such a state. The Captain Jack Sparrow that had faced all odds to reclaim his ship and sail to her rescue, well it was Will who had actually done the rescuing but Jack kind of helped, was gone. In his place was a broken man with wide, child-like eyes. 

"I am sorry, Jack," she said softly, her voice reverting into the evenly moderated tone she had worked out before to keep him as calm as possible. She still didn't know what had set him off like that, but she knew she didn't want it happening again, so she forced her voice to be calm and slow. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Can I see?" she asked in reference to his head wound. 

Jack's brow wrinkled and his eyes grew wary, but he nodded quickly. "Only if you promise not to hurt, Miss Elizabeth," he said firmly, making child-like demands that nearly startled a laugh out of her.

"I promise, Jack," she said seriously, having no thought in her mind of doing him any more harm than she already had. He seemed to accept this, and moved his hand away so she could look at the injury now. It wasn't nearly as bad as she had imagined it would be, but it was still pretty wretched. There was already a lump as big as an apricot forming on his head, but the wound itself was actually fairly shallow. She had heard somewhere that wounds taken on the head always seemed to bleed the most. That must have been what had happened. Her face was mere inches away from Jack's own now, and he could feel her hot breath on her nose as she inspected the lump. She ran a gentle finger over it pulled her hand back quickly as he gasped. 

"You promised!" he yelled, pulling away from her quicker than she thought possible. "You lied! Bad Miss Elizabeth! You promised that it wouldn't hurt and you lied! People who lie get punished," he said with a sullen glare in her direction. 

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Jack," Elizabeth whispered, casting her eyes down into the sand. "I did promise, and I'm sorry," she finally mumbled, almost too quiet for Jack to hear. 

Jack seemed to ponder her words, and after a few long minutes crawled back over to Elizabeth's side. "It's alright, Miss Elizabeth. Don't cry. I'm ok. It doesn't hurt that much, I promise," Jack said with a wide gold-filled smile.  

Elizabeth sighed in relief that he wasn't too badly injured, and she knew she couldn't have stood him being angry with her for very long. But truthfully, she was more concerned about the words he had used, "People who lie get punished," the way he had said that had sent a chill down her spine. It had inexplicably frightened her, and she didn't really know why. Would Jack really hurt her? Could he? She wasn't so sure she had the answers to those questions any more. At times, he seemed capable, but at times like this it didn't look as if he could hurt a fly let alone his 'Miss Elizabeth.' At least, she sure hoped that he couldn't.

***

Jack's mind had become a very scary place in the last few hours. He wasn't able to really hold coherent thoughts, but he was able to hold some. "_Is that __Elizabeth__? Is she really here? When did she get here? Everything's so bleedin' confusing. Did she hit me? Why did she hit me?" _Jack's questions trailed on and on, becoming less and less coherent as time went by. 

**"Because I was there," **the voice answered menacingly. "**It's good to talk to you again, Jack. I had feared that you had gone completely insane. Oh wait, you have," **the voice chucked. **"Poor mad Sparrow. You've really gone around the bend haven't you? You know what; I'm actually surprised that you have enough sanity left inside that thick skull of yours to be having this little conversation. I'll have to work on that," the voice said with an imagined smirk on its face. **

_What do you mean? You bastard, you did this to me! I am not mad! What have you done to me?!" _Jack shouted at the unseen presence within his mind. The voice seemed to have taken up permanent residence inside him, hiding away in a darkened corner of his already dark mind. 

**"Oh Jack, I didn't make you insane. That was all your own doing. I merely gave you a bit of a shove in the right direction. That's all. You're the one who ran with it. Truly Jack, I haven't seen such a lovely run of madness in a long time. Thank you for that. Although your patheticness towards Miss Swann is beginning to grate on my nerves a bit; I'll have to do something about that." **

_"You leave her alone, you bastard! Or I swear I'll---" _

**"You'll what, Jack? There's absolutely nothing you can do to stop me I am a god. What are you? You're just a puny, pathetic, little nothing of a man who's gone irrevocably insane. You have no grasp of my power. Oh what, you're surprised? Stupefied? Yes, I am a god Sparrow. You had no idea what you were messing with when you entered that cave, did you?" **the god laughed heartily. **"At first I was just saying it was your fault that you're crew was killed to get to break, but it's true. You really did get them killed. You didn't bother to learn about the treasure you sacked, the curse it contained. You led your crew to their deaths with a smile on your face. Congratulations, Jack. You've done a far better job on your own than I could have ever done. I thank you for your help."**

_"Shut up!" _Jack roared within the contents of his own mind_. "It was you who killed them, not me! You're the one responsible for all of this, and I will find a way to make you pay for it, even if it kills me," _Jack vowed.

**"Oh I'm sure it will. And those around you, of course. But you already knew that. You've seen it first hand after all. And you know what, I've decided to do you a favor. I've decided to give you hope. Of course, having hope just means I get the joy of taking it away again, but that's your problem not mine. Anyway, back to giving hope. All of your friends are alive. They all survived my storm inexplicably, and are trying to make their way to you and the lovely Miss Swann here. It's such a shame for her and them that they'll be much too late to do any good."**

Inside, Jack was reeling with hope and joy. He'd even give Norrington a big sloppy kiss on the mouth if he'd show up this very instant to rescue him and Elizabeth from this horrible place. After a moment of the shuddered disgust that _that_ image brought, he decided he'd rather not kiss Norrington. Perhaps a handshake, maybe even a hug if he was feeling especially thankful, but there certainly would not be any kissing on his part. And he'd leave the kissing of Will to Elizabeth. If only he could somehow get control over his body again.

**"You are in control of your body, Jack. I'm not the one making you insane. You went quite mad on your own. You are completely in control of your own body, and yet you aren't. Isn't that just frustrating as hell? I know I would be pretty upset to find out that there was nothing I could do to regain control of my own body, how about you?**

Jack's world fell away. The specter, god, voice, whatever it was had to be lying. He had to be the cause of his current state of mind, or lack there of. The alternative was unthinkable. _You lie to me just as you have from the beginning, you miserable bastard. You did this to me, and I will find a way out it. _

"Jack? Are you still in there?" Elizabeth's voice seemed distant and muddled, but he could hear it. 

_"Yes! I'm here, __Elizabeth__!" _he shouted, hoping that she would hear him somehow. In reality, Jack's lips never moved. 

"Jack? You're beginning to scare me, please say something. Let me know you're still there."  

_"Why can't I answer her? I thought you said you weren't controlling me? Let me go!" _Jack shouted.

**"I'm not controlling you. You're trapped in the confines of your own mind. It's quite an interesting sight to watch, actually. I don't think I've ever seen a man go insane from the inside before. I've seen many men and woman and children for that matter; go insane from the outside, but never on the inside where it's up close and personal. How does it feel to go insane, Jack? Please tell me, I really want to know," the voice asked him eagerly.**

_"Damn you," _Jack seethed._ "You might as well ask yourself that question because you're surely insane if you think I'd do _anything _to help you," _with that, Jack mentally spat on the sand in disgust and was amazed when his body echoed the action.

"Jack? Are you still there? Why are you spitting at me?" Elizabeth asked, a confused frown marring her features. 

If Jack could have hugged her, he would have. He was making progress, at least. 

***

Will cursed as he used his sword to slice at yet another branch that impeded the overgrown trail through the jungle he was currently on. He was determined to follow it, he needed to find help for Norrington and this was the best option. There surely had to be some kind of civilization at the end of the trail. If there wasn't, he didn't know what he would do. Norrington was lying on the beach alone, surely growing sicker as time passed, and soon it would be too dark for Will to make his way along the trail any longer. 

Will spun around holding his sword in front of him in a defensive position as he heard a rustling of leaves from behind him. "Hello? Who's there? Show yourself!" Will didn't bother to inform whoever was moving through the foliage about Norrington should they prove to be an enemy rather than an ally. While he was still armed, the Commodore most likely wasn't in any condition to defend himself should the need arise. The only answer Will received from his queries was a sharp pain at the side of his neck. He immediately slapped a hand on it, and encountered a small feathered dart. He had just enough time to look at it quizzically before falling to the ground unconscious, his sword falling easily from his limp hand. 

***

Elizabeth didn't know what to do. Jack had seemingly gone away inside himself, and nothing she did could bring him out of it. She couldn't understand it. He had been seemingly normal, for a madman anyway, one minute, and a mute the next with no apparent change in between. The fact that he was sitting straight up in the sand and that his eyes were still open and fluttering slightly was the only indication that he was still conscious. She had waved her hand in front of those rapidly fluttering eyelids more than once, but she had gotten no reaction out of him. She was just about to resort to slapping him, on the uninjured cheek mind you, when he started mumbling. 

"Jack? Are you still in there?" she asked quietly, hoping that she would receive some kind of answer. Even a nod would be appreciated at this point. She was about to ask again when his mumbling seemed to intensify in volume, as if he were arguing with someone under his breath. The sight was not a welcome one. "Jack? You're beginning to scare me, please say something. Let me know you're still there."  

Jack's only reaction, if it could be called a reaction at all, was to moan loudly and fall backwards on the sand where he rolled over onto his side and curled up into a little ball, his dark hair covering his face like a curtain. Elizabeth immediately ran to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, please. Talk to me. Let me help you. Please," she pleaded with him. 

"Eliz," Jack started, his eyes finally opened to lock on her own. 

"Jack! Yes, I'm here. It's me, Elizabeth!" Elizabeth shouted frantically, and Jack winced from the sudden loud noise. "Are you alright?" she continued, seemingly unaware of his discomfort. 

"No, 'm not," he managed to mumble, struggling to sit upright again. He managed with a bit of help from Elizabeth. His words were softly spoken, but as Elizabeth was nearly on top of him, she heard him as clearly as if he had shouted in her ear as she had in his. She was amazed he had answered her question so easily. He seemed almost himself again. Could it be possible? But he has said he wasn't ok, what could that mean? She decided to ask him. 

"What do you mean, Jack? What's wrong?" After a moment, she blushed at the foolishness in her words. Of course he wasn't alright. He had had to watch his friends and crew die, he had had to watch _Ana_ die, he had gone mad as a result, and was now severely injured on at least his cheek if not the side of his head as well where she had hit him. "I'm sorry Jack; it was foolish of me to ask. Of course you're not alright. I can't imagine what you must have gone through. I don't think anyone could." 

"Thank you. 'S not what I meant though, Liz," Jack managed to slur out, his speech becoming more coherent and more confident as time went on. It still looked as if he were fighting with someone or something, most likely his madness she thought with a frown, but whatever it was, he seemed to be beating it back. "There's something here. Something you need to know about," he managed to say before gasping in pain. A fresh trickle of blood trailed down his injured left temple. It looked as if it had inexplicably broken open again. 

"Here, let me get that," Elizabeth said, automatically leaning over Jack and pressing the now thoroughly bloodied scrap of her dress to the side of his head. "I'm sorry for this Jack. It was wrong of me to do it. I hurt you, and I'm sorry," she stammered, her eyes looking away from his in shame. 

"Don't be like that, luv. You did right by old Jack. I wasn't myself. I'm still not. That's what I have to talk to you about," he said, raising a hand to cup her cheek so that she faced him directly. "There's a presence here. He doesn't want me to talk about him, but you need to know. He's---" he groaned in pain as the gun shot wound on his cheek started bleeding profusely as well. "He's doing this to me, Elizabeth! And whatever you do, don't let him hurt you!" his shout was drowned out by another groan of pain, and Jack's eyes rolled up in his head as if he were about to faint. 

"Jack! Don't leave me now! Stay with me! What are you talking about! Who's here, Jack? Did one of your crew survive? I don't understand!" she pleaded with him frantically. It was clear he was trying to tell her something important by the way he had made her look at him, but what was it? A presence on the island with them that was somehow hurting Jack? 

Elizabeth was startled out of her musings by a hand on her shoulder. She started to see that Jack was staring calmly at her, seeming as sane as he ever was. But his eyes…….oh God, those _were not_ _Jack's eyes! _

"Jack?" Elizabeth called out, her voice nearly catching in her throat as she took in what her eyes were telling her. Jack leaned over her, his eyes meeting her own dead on. But while he should have been staring back at her with his deep caramel-brown kohl-line eyes the eyes staring back at her were an almost colorless set of cold pale blue eyes. She had never seen a colder stare in all of her life, certainly not on a friend. 

"Yes, Elizabeth? What's wrong? You look a little frightened, to me. In fact, I think I could go as far to say that you look petrified. Am I right? If you're too scared to answer, I'll understand," the man who _was not_ Jack said mockingly. His voice didn't even sound the same. It had a bit of a lilt to it that she had heard only in the surrounding islands of England. It sounded nothing like Jack's more forceful low class accent. 

"Who are you?" she finally managed to stammer out, proud that her voice didn't tremble too much.  

"Oh, no one you need to be concerned about," he said waving a hand that if it hadn't been coupled with the blue eyes and the Celtic lilt could have been from Jack himself. "Although, he did try and warn you about me. It was a valiant effort on his part, really. He certainly had me impressed. I didn't think he'd be able to come back from madness so quickly. He continues to surprise me," he saw her eyes widen as he referred to Jack as another person while he inhabited the pirate's body, and chuckled. "Oh don't worry. You're friend's still in here somewhere, I'm just taking his body for a ride as it were," he smiled at Elizabeth's gasp. "But you needn't concern yourself with that now," he nearly whispered menacingly. 

Elizabeth was almost afraid to ask, but it had to be done, "Then what should I be concerned about?" She stood to her feet and tried to show that she was unafraid while inside she was more afraid than she had been as Barbossa had held her over the Aztec alter with the intent of sacrificing her. 

"Only me," he said, and before she could even think to run, he had pushed her forcefully to the ground. A pair of hauntingly cold eyes were the last thing she saw before the twilight finally deepened into full darkness. She felt a hand tearing at her corset and she screamed at the feeling. "Go ahead and scream for me, it makes this so much more fun. Scream for me, Elizabeth. Cry for me. Plead for me to stop. That might make this go faster, but it's unlikely. You have no idea how long it's been for me without a woman. I would have taken that lovely bitch Anamaria if I had known about her, but unfortunately she was too fragile under my ministrations. But you're not like her, are you? You're strong. You'll fight me with your dying breath, won't you?" 

"You bast---" Elizabeth was cut off as Jack's lips descended on her own, his tongue thrust between her teeth as she stopped in mid-sentence. He ravished her mouth and he would no doubt do the same to her body if she didn't do something about it soon. She bit down viciously on his tongue and was rewarded with the sharp tang of blood filling her mouth. 

He did pull away from her, but kept his right hand pressed firmly against her left shoulder, pinning her to the ground. "You are a feisty one, aren't you? I will enjoy breaking your spirit," he wiped at his bloodied lips with his tattoo covered hand, and her eyes were drawn to the side of his neck where she saw black lines moving over the skin there like insects. He noticed her gaze and smirked. "You like that? Jack tried to tell you about it before, but you didn't believe him did you? The longer I stay in control, the further it covers Jack's body until I'm certain he will have become my canvas. We'll have to see what it looks like close up, won't we?"  He straddled her body, clamping her legs between his thighs and he shrugged off Jack's jacket and shirt. "There, now you can enjoy it properly," he said, holding out Jack's left arm in front of her face so she could see the markings up close in the bright light of the full moon that had just risen over their heads. 

Elizabeth was shocked. She had seen the tattoo before; Jack had shown it to her. It had looked nothing like this. It had only reached his elbow, perhaps a little higher. What she was looking at now covered his entire left arm from the middle and ring fingers of his left hand, to the side of his neck, two pointed lines reaching up to caress his jaw. How could she had thought that it was beautiful? Close up and in the pale light of the full moon, it was something alive and monstrous. She turned her eyes away from it and couldn't help but take in the rest of Jack's bare chest. He was covered in more scars than she had imagined, but the overall effect was definitely appealing. She felt her face flush as the thought that Jack's half naked body might be appealing fully impacted her. She hadn't even seen Will, her fiancé like this.

"Ahh, so the little Miss likes what she sees, does she? Tell me, Elizabeth. Do you lust after this body?" she felt her blush deepen and heard him laugh. "I wonder what dear William would think of that. If he manages to survive, I'll be sure and ask him." Before she could protest, he had placed both of his hands upon her body once more and tore open her dirtied dress, exposing her corset and undergarments before his hungry eyes. But he didn't stop there. He pulled one hand away and grabbed the pearl handled dagger stuck in Jack's belt. With one quick motion of his hand, her corset and undergarments lay shredded on the ground beside her, and her bare chest was exposed to the elements, her nipples pebbling instantly in the cold. 

"Please don't do this," Elizabeth pleaded now, unable to cover herself as he moved her hands over her head and tied them securely with a strap of her dress. She struggled with all her might, but she could not overpower him. She felt absolutely helpless for the first time in her entire life and she was scared. She closed her eyes and mumbled a prayer that this was all a nightmare, or that somehow Will would show up to make everything all right like he always had. Anything to get away from this. 

"That's right child, pray. Not that it will do anything to save you. It's simply amusing to see you cower beneath me," he smirked as he made sure her hands were bound tight enough to cut her skin should she try and move too much. With his hands free from holding her arms down, he ripped the clothes off of the rest of her body so that she was entirely naked beneath him. "You're beautiful, Elizabeth. Do you know that? I am going to enjoy this immensely," after a mere second's thought, he continued, "I don't think Jack will, though. Did I tell you? He gets to watch while this happens. I can feel him now, banging against the prison I've made for him, begging for me to leave you alone. This will break him, I fear. Oh well. It just makes it easier for me to take over that way. And the sight and sound of him breaking is oh so appealing, Elizabeth. You have no idea. Not as appealing as seeing _you_ break, but fun none the less. Anyway, enough chat. Let's get on with this, shall we?" 

It was Jack's hands that undid his sword belt and breeches. Jack's feet that kicked off his tall boots, his pants soon following them, and Jack's legs that forced themselves within her thighs. It was not Jack however who took her by force, entering the most secret area of her body with such pain and viciousness that she had to blink back tears. She had heard from some of her married friends about the act of making love, how it inevitably hurt the first time, but hearing stories was one thing. Experiencing it first hand by force was entirely another. She released her held back tears as she thought of what was happening to her. Her virginity was being forcefully taken from her by a demon in her best friend's body. The virginity that she had vowed to give to Will one day; a day that would now never come. She wept for Jack, forced to watch himself doing these things as she was forced to bear them. She wept for herself and her lost innocence that could never be regained. 'Oh God, what if I conceive a child after this? What will I do then?' the thought was almost too much to bear, but she had to cast her mind on something other than what was happening to her or she would go as mad as Jack had gone. 

***

The voice, the specter, the god once known as Lorelac was enjoying himself immensely. The sight of shiny tears trailing down Elizabeth's smooth cheeks excited him more than he had thought possible, and his thrusts increased in speed and intensity, causing Elizabeth to groan with ever movement of Jack's slender hips. While he had taken many virgins before in his time spent on this plane of existence, it had been quite a long time ago, and this little slip of a woman under him made his insides burn with a passion he had long since forgotten. He had felt her pain upon entry, her body's last defense against the rape give in a swift motion, immediately arousing him. He lived on pain, fear and hatred and the woman underneath him was giving all three off in equal portions and strengths. To feel such sensations roll over him brought him so close to his release that he had to calm himself down or his fun would be over before it began. His good humor was increased even further to hear Jack's whimpering in the back of his consciousness. He had ceased his fighting upon penetrating Elizabeth, and had been mumbling to himself ever since. He smirked and continued his thrusting, a full grin crossing his face when he saw that Elizabeth was beginning to take pleasure in his actions. Her own body was betraying her and there was nothing she could do but ride the wave as it came. 

***

It hit her like a wave; a feeling of intense warmth spread throughout her body as she felt her hips rising in time to meet Jack's forceful thrusts. She was horrified to see such a reaction from her traitorous body, but she found she couldn't help herself. Her eyes rolled back into her head as another wave of heat rolled over her body and she let out a breathy moan. 

"You like that?" the man that _was not_ Jack asked her calmly, looking down at her while their bodies continued the motions of their act. "How about this?" before she could fathom what he intended now, he had lowered a hand between her legs, and screamed at the sensation of one of Jack's calloused fingers trailing a path of fire throughout her body, causing her breath to quicken and grow shallow. He smirked and his hand began to move, making her body tremble as it went. The sensations of that combined with the continued thrusting of his hips brought her to her release. She had only read about such things in books her father didn't know existed in their family library, but nothing could compare to real life. Her body shook and trembled and to her everlasting shame, a scream of Jack's name at the top of her lungs slipped past her lips and echoed through the night. 

***

Lorelac found his own release not long after and once he was satisfied he returned control of Jack's body over to the pirate himself, but didn't bother to disengage from Elizabeth's trembling body first. The reaction from which would be interesting to say the very least. With a devilish smirk, he retreated to the darkened corner of Jack's mind he had made his own and gathered his strength. 

***

When Jack came back in control of his body, his first reaction was shock. Followed quite quickly by disgust, self-loathing, an overwhelming sorrow, and seething hatred. His self-loathing and disgust intensified when he found himself enjoying the warmth of Elizabeth's naked body under his. Being as gentle as he could with a devastating sense of panic setting in, he removed himself from Elizabeth's body and turned to pick up his coat which he lay over her naked body as quickly as he could. 

"Jack?" Elizabeth called out to him meekly, her trembling hands clutching at the long coat. It didn't quite cover her entire body, but it was close enough. As long as she was covered.

"Oh God, Elizabeth. I'm sorry, I'm so very, very sorry. I know you'll never forgive me for this," his voice grew calm and resigned and he continued. "There are pistols on nearly all of my crew member's bodies. Take one of them and kill me. It's your right. If you can't do it, I'm sure your fiancé will," Jack said, his eyes dropping to the sand where he took in his nakedness and pulled on his breeches as quickly as possible. He had violated one of his few remaining friends. If he didn't have a one way ticket to hell already for his life of piracy, his spot was surely guaranteed there now. Right next to Barbossa if his notions of hell were even close to reality. But he would meet it gladly at this point. "Reclaim your honor, Elizabeth. Kill me," he again pleaded with her, raising his eyes to meet with her own, certain he would see hatred there. But he didn't. 

"I'm not going to kill you, Jack. It wasn't you who did this to me, it was the other. I don't know his name," she admitted. 

"He doesn't have a name. At least, not one that he's told me. But none of that matters, Elizabeth. It was me who raped you, who ravished you. _I_ was the one who was there. It was _my _body that defiled you, not his. My hands who---oh God. What have I done? Please Elizabeth, kill me. Restore your honor. Please. I can't bear to live with what I've done." 

"Now you listen here, Jack Sparrow! If I can bear it to be done, then you can bear to live with it! I can't have you falling apart on me now! I need you! The two of us need to get off this accursed island and find Will and Norrington!" her voice hitched a bit at Will's name, but she went on. "They're still alive, and they need our help! And we need theirs! And if you think I'm going to kill you, Jack, you get that idea out of your head right now," she paused and took a wavering breath before going on, "How could I kill the man who may be the father of my first born child right now?" Elizabeth had kept her composure up until the word child, and then she had dissolved into sobs. "Oh God, why is this happening to us? What did we do?" She managed to speak out between sobs. 

"It wasn't anything you did, luv. It was me. It was all me," he tentatively reached out a hand to comfort her, and while Elizabeth first started away from his touch in fear, she then quickly leaned into it and continued sobbing. Jack wrapped his arms around her, and found he wanted to weep along with her, but he hadn't the strength. 

TBC

A/N: Oh my goodness, was that chapter ever hard to write. It didn't want to be written so I kept putting it off. But it had to be done, I'm afraid. That final scene first whispered its wretched intentions to me about 4 chapters ago. Anyway, I hope you liked at least some of it. The next chapter will be up in a week or so, and while most of you might hate me for this, there will be almost no Jack or Liz scenes in it whatsoever. It's time to check in with our boys. They're in a lot of trouble. Until then, please send me your reviews!!!

**And now for your enjoyment, Merrie's first ever Reviewer Thanks Section!!! *applause***

Miss Becky: my lovely lovely beta. Without your support, this story wouldn't be half as good as everyone seems to think it is. Congrats on the new story!! Can't wait to read it!!

Halia and gypsy: my partners in crime. You guys keep me motivated, there's nothing else to it. 

Otherhawk: glad you find Jack disturbing. So do I. And I love writing the Will and Norry scenes. There will be many more next chapter.

claire: glad you like Jack's madness too!! It was both fun and notoriously difficult to write!

Intuitive: LOL. I've been matrix-ed! Yes, my computer and I are now very happy together again, thanks. As for the Will/Norry dynamic, I don't write slash, so everything from my end will be friendship based. Of course, you may imagine whatever you like. :-)

Scarlett Burns: I didn't soften any blows in this one. Did you still like it? I sure hope so.

Eby: Yea for new reviewers!! Glad you like my story!!

BURN THE R.U.M.: This just keeps getting angstier and angstier doesn't it? Sorry about that. But I promise, not all is lost, just stick with me a while longer. And there will be a sequel. 

jack roks: Glad you liked my story!! I kept your review in mind and tried to include more Jack POV's. Did I succeed to your liking? 

Mistress of Destruction: Glad you like my story!! Sorry for the long time between updates. I'm alternating writing on this fic and Darkness Rising, my OUATIM one. That's what takes so long. 

WakingDream: So glad to have new, relatively, reviewers!! I'll have to be sure and thank Sara for directing you over to me. ;-) 

Claire: Again, thanks for the double review!! You made my day!! 

Lady Russell Holmes: A new reviewer!! Glad you liked my fic!! How'd I do on the no blow softening?? 

Cursed-Pearl: Another new reviewer!! Yea!! Thanks!! And such a lovely review too!! Sorry I couldn't post sooner!!

And to any of you who I might have missed, you're reviews have not gone unnoticed! Thanks again!!!

-Merrie


	12. Chapter 11: Natives and Norrington

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: Only the voice, Jack's insanity, and Norry's illness are mine. I seem to have gotten the raw end of the deal, huh?  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, and the hated voice that still remains mysterious.  
  
Author's Note: Oh wooow, thank you soooo much to my lovely lovely reviewers!! I thought you guys would hate me after the last chapter!!! You guys rock!!!  
  
Rating: This will be back to PG-13 again. As I mentioned last chapter, it was the only one that deserved an R rating, not the entire story.  
  
Chapter 11: Natives and Norrington  
  
Norrington shot awake, breathing heavily. "Will? Are you here?" he called out to the darkness. The fire beside him had almost died down completely, so with a pained grunt, he grabbed a long stick Will had left near enough for him to reach, and stirred the coals, making the fire blaze brightly once more. He leaned back to rest against the log, enjoying the fire's warmth, before calling out again, "Will! Answer me! Are you there?"  
  
Something wasn't right about this. Will wouldn't have just left him there, would he? No, a man such as William Turner would never leave a man behind, especially one as sick as Norrington admittedly was. Something had happened to him, Norrington could feel it. He had learned to trust his instincts over the long years of chasing pirates, and right now they were screaming at him to get up and do something, anything, for Will's life was in danger.  
  
Moaning with the effort, Norrington managed to sit upright against the log. His head spun, and his breath grew short as if he were about to pass out, but he would manage. If Will really was in danger, there would be no coming for him. No one but one incredibly sick and beaten down naval Commodore. Filled with determination, he managed to roll over to one side and prop his trembling body up on his hands and knees, the sword that had somehow unbelievably survived the storm hitting him in the leg from where it was attached to his belt. He didn't know how he had managed to hold on to it, but he sent a prayer of thanks to whoever might be watching. Because if Will truly was in danger, he would surely need it now.  
  
Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he attempted to rise to his feet. Once he had his feet underneath him, it was only moments before he found himself crumpled to the sand again, his head spinning. "Bloody hell, this is just perfect. Will's in trouble and I can barely stand. Come on, you bloody fool. Will is counting on you. Get up!" he shouted, trying to motivate his rebellious body into doing what he told it to for just a little while longer. Using the long stick he had stirred the fire with as a crutch this time, he managed to get his feet underneath him once more and stayed upright. Panting from the effort, he wiped a hand across his feverish brow and took in the area surrounding him. He could see tracks dimly lit in the fire's light leading in the direction of the jungle, and Norrington knew that was where he had to go. He slowly leaned over the fire and pulled out a log he could use as a torch and set out.  
  
***  
  
Will awoke to find himself weightless. He started a bit at the sensation, and tried to struggle, but he found he couldn't move. His hands and feet were securely tied to a long stick that seemed to be carried by two men. He couldn't really make out their faces in the dark, but one wasn't usually kidnapped by friendly people. Well, Jack might have considered it now and again, but Will knew these people were undoubtedly not his friends. This realization deepened when he felt his sword belt missing from his waist. 'This can not be good,' he thought with a frown. 'Why do things like this always seem to happen to me? First pirates, now island savages. What next?' he sighed.  
  
Unfortunately, the men carrying him had heard the sigh and stopped suddenly. Will tensed; afraid he was going to be dropped. The two of them did not drop him however, instead calling out in an unfamiliar language to someone near the front of their party from what Will could see. He relaxed after a few long minutes of remaining in the air, but he still didn't know who these people were or want they wanted.  
  
He suddenly started when he noticed a rather imposing man standing silently over him. He hadn't even heard the man's approach! "What do you want with me? Let me go!" Will wanted to add that Norrington was back on the beach depending on him to get help, but he didn't dare. Until these people proved their intentions, the less they knew about Norrington and his condition, the better. Especially when that condition made defending one's self rather difficult.  
  
The man didn't utter a word. Well, no word to Will anyway. He did however turn to the two men who were holding Will up and uttered a few short words to the both of them. What it was that he told them, Will didn't know, for the language was one he had never heard before. "Let me go!" he shouted again. "I have done nothing to you and your people!" If any of the men that made up the party understood him, they made no sign. 'Oh this is just bloody perfect,' Will thought with a grimace as the party started moving again. I've been kidnapped by savages while Norrington could very well be dying on that beach, and not only may they want to eat me, but they don't speak bloody English either!'  
  
***  
  
Norrington stumbled for what seemed like the hundredth time as he slowly but surely followed the tracks Will had left behind in the soft sand and earth. 'I'm lucky I lost my wig to the storm,' he thought with a rueful half-smile. 'Because I surely would have set it alight that time.' But he had no time to joke about such things. He hadn't even gotten beyond the sound of the ocean's crashing waves against the beach before he noticed more tracks in the dirt much different than Will's own; these seemed to be barefoot. Frowning, he moved further down the trail that someone had undeniably hacked out of the jungle and crouched down with a bit of a dizzy waver as he noticed a rather peculiar set of markings in the sand. 'Now what in the blazes could that be?' he asked himself, lowering the torch to the ground to see the image clearer. It almost looked as if someone had fallen to the ground here.  
  
Norrington's already too pale face whitened even further as what he was looking at became apparent before his deep blue eyes. "Will," he muttered aloud, one hand immediately going to the hilt of his sword as his eyes darted around the dark jungle that engulfed him. Will had fallen here, right here. And from the looks of things, he had been taken by a large group of barefoot individuals. He had heard tales of groups of savage men living on unexplored islands throughout the Caribbean, men who were more likely to eat the flesh off your bones than look at you, but he hadn't relieve believed in such stories. His feverish mind chose that instant to remind him of all the unexplainable things he had seen in the last few years, undead pirates only being the most recent, and cannibalistic savages didn't seem all that unbelievable when compared with such a collection of unexplained events as his military career had undeniably been.  
  
A rustling in the jungle started him out of his thoughts, and he shot to his feet, one hand on his sword. That turned out to be a mistake as the darkness shifted and spun, and his illness-laden body threatened to drop him onto the dirt in exactly the place Will had presumably fallen. Norrington willed himself to rest for a minute while his body heaved under the strain of shallow breathing before moving on. He had to follow the footprints. Someone had taken Will, and there was no one else to go after him. While a pneumonia-laden naval Commodore might not be the first choice of a rescuer, he was the only choice. Remembering why he had stood in the first place and cursing his wandering mind, he waved the torch in the direction the sound had come from and rolled his eyes as a particularly large spider monkey skittered away. 'As long as it isn't carrying a gold coin and answers to Jack, it can go about its way,' he thought with a wry grin.  
  
Having caught as much of his breath as he was going to given the circumstances, he held the torch out at his side once more, and followed the trail of bare footprints, praying that he would find Will soon, and that they would both make it out of this alive.  
  
***  
  
Will was surprised to find that he was never dropped from his position tied to the long stick. Instead, his two bearers merely propped it up in the ground, allowing him to stand upright while leaving his hands and feet tied. It was difficult, especially considering that all the blood had left his hands and feet, causing his knees to buckle underneath him. He would have fallen had it not been for the two strong hands, one from each of his bearers that held him up under his armpits. In the light of the numerous torches that filled this.......camp, Will could see his captors clearly for the first time. To say they were exotic was putting it mildly. Every man was bare from the waist up, and covered in an elaborate swirl of dark black tattoos, contrasting starkly with their dark skin. Every man he saw had his head completely shaved clean, and this was the hardest to take in: what looked like pieces of bone through their nostrils, and earlobes hanging down to the tops of their shoulders if not longer.  
  
A man clad like all the rest came striding towards him purposefully, and Will tensed and felt an urge to grasp at a sword hilt that wasn't there with hands he couldn't move. Upon closer examination as the man drew closer however, Will saw that while he looked nearly identical in clothing and jewelry, he was not. A pair of half-lens glasses sat on the top of his nose, adding yet another touch of surrealism to this already overwhelming scene. "What do you want from me? Why have I been taken?" Will addressed the man, foolishly hoping that he would understand his words if the modern glasses on his face was any indication. The man stood silent just long enough for a gruesome image of stealing the glasses off a dead man's body made its way cheerfully through his mind before speaking,  
  
"You have trespassed on our lands," the man said plainly, in a deep booming voice that was clearly meant to frighten the weaker willed.  
  
"You understand me," Will blurted before fully paying attention to what the man had to say. "Wait, trespassing? I wasn't trespassing! I was shipwrecked here!"  
  
"Yes I understand. I learned from trespassers like you," the man said, as if it were the most common thing in the world. "You say you were shipwrecked, but where is your crew? Surely you were not the only one to survive? And many men must sail a ship," the man said with a pointed look.  
  
Will had no answer for that. What answer could he give? He had sailed out with two others in what was now seeming like a fool's errand, under the command of some force he did not yet understand, and now he had no idea if any of his three friends lived or died. Norrington might have died on the beach by now, for all he knew. And Elizabeth.......no, he would refused to believe Elizabeth was dead until he had undeniable proof that it was so. And even then, he'd doubt his own eyes. And as for Jack, Captain Jack Sparrow would outlive them all, he could feel it. The man seemed invincible. "What do you intend to do to me?" Will asked at last, not really wanting to know the answer, but unable to stop the query from passing his lips.  
  
The man cast a glance to his fellow natives, a smirk crossing his face. The man translated Will's question to the other members of the tribe, and hearty laughter surrounded him from all directions once the man was finished. Will felt his blood chill in his veins at such a sound, but he held his ground and refused to look frightened. "There's only one way to deal with trespassers on our island," the man said slowly, clearly drawing out his answer for effect. "They are to be sacrificed," the man said at last.  
  
Save for a slight widening of his eyes, Will made no movement at the declaration. He had heard tales of such things in Port Royal from sailors passing through, but he had not believed a word. To see proof in front of his very eyes was daunting, to say the least, but he would not give the man the satisfaction of seeing him quail.  
  
What looked to be real shock and admiration slid over the man's countenance before he spoke, "You are a brave man. I am Kiquan. What is your name, boy?"  
  
Will stiffened as much as his bonds would allow at the 'boy,' but gave his name as he had no reason to withhold it, "My name is Will Turner," he said, standing as straight and as proper as one could tied hand and foot to a pole sticking out of the ground.  
  
"Will Turner. Your heart is full of courage. I will gain much from eating it."  
  
***  
  
Norrington's knees buckled underneath him as his walking stick snapped against a large rock under his increasing weight. It was becoming harder and harder to stay upright and conscious, but he had no choice. He had to find Will. And if he died in the course of that action, his death would have been honorable. Not that he intended on dying anytime soon. There was certainly too much left unresolved. Elizabeth was missing, perhaps lost to the ocean's cool embrace, perhaps washed up on an island somewhere like he and Will had been, all alone. And there was still Captain Jack Sparrow to consider as well, for it was for his sake that the three of them had set out in the first place. But if the danger the pirate was in was all one of Will's nightmares, not that he doubted Will's word when he gave it, he would hunt the pirate down and give him a sound thumping for all the trouble he had caused them. Of course, he would have to make it out of this little spot alive, first.  
  
Norrington was so deeply involved in his own thoughts that he almost stumbled upon his destination without even realizing it. There was a large clearing in the surrounding jungle, filled with a group of half naked men gathered around the figures of two men. In the light of numerous torches, the scene looked surreal and nightmarish. It was the two figures they were gathered around that held Norrington's attention however, for one of them was William Turner. He looked to be alright from what he could see, but he seemed to be bound to the long pole sticking out from the ground in front of him, because he certainly wasn't moving. Squinting his eyes, Norrington noticed that Will seemed to be without his sword as well and let out a curse.  
  
"Alright, what do I do now?" he grumbled to himself. There was no way he could take them all on, even if he was just barely keeping to his feet while the pneumonia that was angry at being ignored raged through his body.  
  
"Will Turner. Your heart is full of courage. I will gain much from eating it." Norrington's already rice paper white face turned a little green upon hearing this line uttered from the man standing next to Will.  
  
"Oh, that's bloody perfect. Not only are they savages, but they're cannibalistic savages as well," he sighed deeply, and pulled out his sword as quietly as he could, a whisper of steel and leather that seemed as loud as cannon fire to his ears. "Well, never let it be said that I was an intelligent man," he said to himself ruefully before dropping the torch to the ground and walking out into the clearing, his sword in hand at his side. "Good evening, gentlemen!" he called out to the group of savages, smiling as every eye locked upon his tattered and sweaty form.  
  
"James! What are you doing here, you bloody fool! Run!" Will shouted to him from his position in the middle of the camp, looking just as shocked to see him as the natives did.  
  
"I don't appreciate being called a fool, Will, even if I deserve that title. And no, I'm not going to run and let you be eaten by these savages," he said with an angry glower. "Who is in charge here?" he bellowed, using all the strength he could manage at the moment, which wasn't a lot.  
  
"Who are you?" the man standing next to Will asked, a pair of half-lens spectacles glinting unbelievably in the torchlight on the end of his nose.  
  
"I am James Christopher Michael Norrington III, Commodore of His Majesty's Royal Navy and I am here to negotiate the return of Mr. Turner here. And who might you be, now that we're giving the introductions? Are you the leader of this group?" he asked, with as much arrogant formality as he could muster at the moment.  
  
The man hesitated to translate Norrington's name and demands before turning back to him. "I am Kiquan, speaker for my people," a loud commanding voice interrupted Kiquan's speech, uttering out few words in a language unknown to Norrington but were undoubtedly commands. Kiquan dropped his head in a bow before speaking again, "Rinikialyian, leader of our people wishes to know what right you have to stand before us and make demands," Kiquan said, as a large man with a brightly colored feathered headdress marking him out from the others moved to stand beside him, glaring at Norrington with cold dark eyes.  
  
"Will is my friend, and while that gives me more than enough right, he is also a citizen under the British Crown, whom I am sworn to defend with my life if need be." Norrington answered, standing as confidently as he could under the circumstances, not looking at Will, but knowing the man was gawking.  
  
"Then you will die," Kiquan spoke for Rinikialyian as the man stepped forward, hefting a spear taller than he was, moving to intercept Norrington.  
  
"What part of 'I'm here to negotiate,' was unclear? There is no need for violence in this. Just let Will go and we will go on our way," Norrington spoke slowly, cursing his luck. He was in no condition to be fighting anyone, clearly someone as battle scarred as this Rinikialyian seemed to be, although it was hard to tell underneath all of the tattoos.  
  
"There is no negotiation. You have made a challenge, and Chief Rinikialyian will meet it," with that, Kiquan and the rest of the tribe moved away from their Norrington and their chief, and with a bellow and a quick lunge, Rinikialyian charged at him and the battle was met.  
  
With the ferocity of Rinikialyian's blows, Norrington was surprised the battle didn't end as soon at had begun, with him lying bleeding on the dirt, a spear through his chest. But no, somehow he managed to deflect all of the savage chief's frenzied blows, and remain untouched. Whether it was survival instinct or pure luck didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was keeping the long spear away from his fevered body. He liked to keep his blood inside him, thank you very much.  
  
His inability to muster the energy to take the offensive in this battle inexplicably worked to his advantage. Rinikialyian seemed to be overconfident in his thrusts, convinced that he could beat Norrington with ease, when in truth he was only tiring himself out quickly. 'Doesn't this man know how to fight properly?' Norrington thought to himself with a frown, ducking a particularly vicious swing meant to take his head off. His life seem to depend on the man's ignorance, but it didn't seem right somehow fighting a man who didn't know how to pace himself properly.  
  
"Yield, release Will, and we can end this right now!" Norrington shouted to the man, and Kiquan obligingly translated with a glare. When the translated words reached Rinikialyian's ears, he roared and rushed at Norrington, pushing him to the ground where the two men lay still.  
  
***  
  
Will couldn't believe his eyes. Norrington, clearly still fighting his pneumonia and barely able to stand from the looks of it, was holding his own against the savage's chief, Rinikialyian. Will's respect for the man, which had risen sharply upon seeing him come out from the jungle rose yet again at the scene. He had always known Norrington was a good man; this was just another example of that truth.  
  
When the two of them finally fell, the chief's body crushing Norrington's to the ground beneath him, Will's breath caught in his throat. He didn't need to look around to see that it was the same with every man witnessing the fight. No one said a word or made any movement to separate the two. Finally, Rinikialyian rolled over on his back, coughing viciously, and Will could see bright red frothing from his lips. Norrington's sword was driven through the man's body at his stomach at such an extreme angle that Will didn't see the blade. 'It must have come out though his shoulder,' his swordsman brain supplied helpfully. "James!" he yelled, his wits finally catching up to the fact that Norrington was still lying motionless on the ground. Rinikialyian had finally ceased his coughing beside him, and now stared lifeless up into the night sky, his wide sightless eyes seeming to glow eerily in the torchlight.  
  
It was Will's shout that seemed to bring life back to the gathered assemblage of men, for every one of them immediately began whispering to each other in their unknown language, every pair of eyes focussed on that of Norrington and their dead chief. Will couldn't care less. The only thing he cared about was the fact that Norrington still wasn't moving. "Damn it, let me go, you bastards!" Will cursed in his rage. He needed to get to Norrington, needed to see if he was alright. He pulled at his bonds, causing blood to well up around his wrists from where the rope dug into his flesh.  
  
"Let him go," Norrington mumbled slowly from where he was now slightly raised off the sand. He looked even worse that he had when Will had left him unconscious on the beach, but he seemed unharmed. "Your chief is dead. I won't say I don't regret killing him, but that was his choice, not mine. Now," he was cut off by a series of hacking coughs that seemed to have returned with a vengeance. He had probably been forcing them down since he had entered the camp, and now they hit him all at once, leaving his body weak and shuddering from the strain. "Let him go. I met your chief's challenge, now let him go," he said at last, his voice growing weaker by the minute.  
  
"I do not think you understand the consequences of what you have done." Kiquan whispered, but loud enough for both men to hear.  
  
"What do you mean? What has he done? He only did what you forced him to do, now let me go!" Will shouted.  
  
Kiquan shook his head, his eyes wide and unbelieving. "He has beaten our chief in a challenge, in single combat. He is now our chief," he said with a harsh finality.  
  
Norrington let out a harsh laugh at this. "I am not your chief. Your chief is lying on the ground next to me. And I did not mean to kill him. He impaled himself on my blade when he pushed himself to the ground."  
  
"You are our chief, whether you wanted it or not. This is our way and always will be. You will be chief until someone takes your life as you did Rinikialyian's," Kiquan said with a gesture to the men gathered around them.  
  
"That's bloody perfect. I don't suppose I can just turn down the job either, can I?" Norrington muttered.  
  
Kiquan didn't bother to answer the obviously rhetorical question; he merely grunted and went over to help Norrington to his feet. "What is your first command of us?" he asked once Norrington had gained his feet once more.  
  
"If I am truly your chief now, I have only one command. Let Will go," he said softly. Kiquan nodded and directed a few of the gawking men to untie Will's hands and feet. They hesitated only for a second before doing what Norrington had commanded. Once Will was freed, he came running over to Norrington's side.  
  
"James! Are you alright! Look at you, you can hardly stand!" Will whispered frantically, laying a hand on the military man's shoulder.  
  
"What does he speak of, Chief Norrington? Are you injured?" Kiquan asked hurriedly, coming to stand beside Will. It certainly didn't take long for his loyalties to transfer. He had probably been through more than one chief's death in his lifetime.  
  
Will looked at the man shrewdly as if to discern his intentions by a glance. The man seemed to fully give himself over to Norrington's rule in an unbelievable blink of an eye. No man's loyalties could shift that quickly, no matter how often it happened. But if help could be found, Norrington certainly needed it. "He is sick," Will said at last. "He shouldn't even be standing right now," he continued with a frown in Norrington's direction. "I don't know how he's standing right now."  
  
"Sick?" Kiquan exclaimed before taking a long look at Norrington as if he didn't believe it. "Oh yes, I see. He has water inside his chest, yes? How ever did you manage to defeat Rinikialyian? No matter, sit down my chief, before you fall down. I am also a doctor for my people, and I can see that you are indeed greatly ill," Norrington let out an exasperated sigh but did as he was told.  
  
"I'm fine. Don't fuss over me," he grumbled. The hacking cough he let out afterwards didn't help to convince anyone.  
  
"You're not fooling anyone.......Chief Norrington," Will said with a smirk.  
  
Norrington narrowed his eyes at him. "Don't start. I've got enough problems on my own as it is without you adding to them. How do these kinds of things always seem to happen to me?" he bemoaned.  
  
"Oh? You become chief of a group of savages, er natives, often?" Will let out a short laugh that bordered a bit on hysteria, but it was a real laugh all the same. "You have Jack's own luck, I swear." Will's countenance clouded at the mention of his pirate friend.  
  
"We'll find him. And Elizabeth too. I'm Chief James Norrington," Norrington said in an imitation of Jack's infamous 'Captain Jack Sparrow,' line, which made Will smile again if not laugh out loud this time.  
  
Kiquan was confused as to what his chief and Will Turner were talking about, but he didn't bother asking. His chief needed strong medicine, or he wouldn't survive to meet his next challenge. He would find out what they were talking about in due time. It was his duty to know everything that went on in his chief's life and to serve him without question. A member of his family had been in this position as long as anyone could remember, and he wasn't one to discard traditions if the chief that the gods had chosen had been someone he wasn't expecting. He called out to two of the tribe's most loyal men, men he knew would back the new chief without complaint, to help him to his new hut where he could be given the medicines he needed to get better. "These men will take you and your companion to your new home, Chief Norrington," he said, gesturing to the two men. "There I will make up some medicine to cure your sickness."  
  
Will eyed the two men warily before turning to Norrington. "I don't like this, but we don't have any choice. You need help, James. You need a doctor. And while I don't know if I entirely trust the man who was willing to eat my heart a minute ago," Kiquan had the grace to look embarrassed at this, "there is no one else."  
  
"You're right," Norrington admitted after a long silence. He didn't like showing his faults and weaknesses in front of others, especially strangers, even though he was supposedly their leader, but he couldn't deny it any longer; he needed help. He looked up and nodded to the two men who were hovering beside him, apparently eager to serve their new chief. They grasped him under the arms as gently as they could and helped him walk to a large hut across the camp. Will followed closely behind. "Oh, be sure and give Will his sword back as well," he called over his shoulder to Kiquan before disappearing inside the tent.  
  
***  
  
"I'm sorry Jack, I can't seem to keep my eyes open any longer," Elizabeth said, her voice slurred with sleep.  
  
"It's alright luv," Jack whispered. "You go ahead and sleep. But here, take this," he handed her a heavy pistol and a small silver dagger.  
  
"Jack, I don't---" she started, but Jack cut her off with a wave of his hand.  
  
"I've already," Jack started, before his voice caught and he had to start again. "I've already attacked you once, Elizabeth. Don't give me the chance to do it again. No matter what. You promise me." His dark eyes sought out hers and held them there.  
  
"I-I promise Jack," she finally said, accepting the weapons he gave to her. She didn't think she would be able to keep that promise though. The thought of hurting Jack again make her sick to her stomach.  
  
"It'll be alright luv, you just trust old Jack. We're going to get out of here, and get you back to your fiancé right quick, savvy?"  
  
Elizabeth winced at the thought of Will, but forced a smile for Jack's benefit. "I believe you, Jack. I'm not worried."  
  
"Good. There should still be some torches burning in the cave.......give me a minute and I'll go get them." Jack didn't want to admit that he'd rather shoot himself in the head, again, before going into that awful place. His hold on sanity was slippery at best, and he knew another trip into the cave where the nightmare that was now his life had begun would send him closer to the edge. He could feel the abyss of madness clawing at him to return, to go over that edge. But he wouldn't. He couldn't, for Elizabeth's sake.  
  
"I'll go with you, Jack," Elizabeth said quietly, guessing his thoughts when he hesitated. She didn't blame him for not wanting to go. But he had to face the place, or he would surely be haunted by it for the rest of his life. "I don't want to be left out here alone, anyway," she admitted after he gave her a long look.  
  
Jack softened at her words. He could love Elizabeth for that. She had read his thought like a book, and he was more than grateful. It was selfish, but he definitely didn't want to go in there by his own. He had been about to ask her to come anyway before she had spoken. The knowledge that he wouldn't be alone didn't necessarily calm his troubled mind, but it did lend him a bit of confidence. "Thank you, Elizabeth," he said quietly.  
  
Elizabeth merely nodded and the two of them made their way over to the entrance Jack had widened in able to move his crew member's bodies out with ease. She caught Jack staring at the cave, and over his shoulder at where the bodies still lie in neat rows on the sand, and laid a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Jack. I can't imagine what you must be going through. But you're not alone, not now," she whispered.  
  
Jack turned to face her, his voice cold in the flickering torch light. "I wasn't alone then either, Elizabeth. Never forget that. He was there with me," Lorelac, his name is Lorelac. "Lorelac, that's his name. He's told it to me. He's here still, Elizabeth. Inside of me. Don't ever forget that," he said sternly, frightening Elizabeth a little.  
  
She shuddered, but nodded. "I won't forget, Jack. I-I don't think I could. Not after......." her voice trailed off.  
  
Jack didn't say anything, didn't do anything. He simply let her regain her composure while standing still. He knew she would forget though. It was inevitable. Her worst enemy wore the face of a friend. How could she keep that in perspective? How could anyone? He didn't bother offering her his apologies either. She was convinced that he had played no part in.......what had happened to her. But he knew that wasn't true. He could have fought a little harder. If Elizabeth hadn't pushed his arm away, the bullet that had sent a path of fire through his teeth, he winced as it reminded him that it was there, would have been lodged in his skull and none of this would have happened. The irony that by saving him Elizabeth had damned herself mocked him.  
  
"Let's go," Elizabeth said with more confidence than she was probably feeling at the moment, causing Jack to smile. She led the way through the cave opening, crawling on her hands and knees. Jack hadn't been able to move all of the rock out of the way by himself, but now that Elizabeth was here perhaps he'd have better luck. 'No, we're not staying here. As soon as dawn breaks, we're getting the hell of this godforsaken piece of rock!'  
  
"What did you say Jack?" Elizabeth asked, now standing in front of him as he crawled into the cave.  
  
"Uh, nothing, Elizabeth. Nevermind," he muttered. She looked wary, but nodded. 'Damn, I hadn't even realized that was out loud. I'm slipping,' he thought frantically. He hadn't taken another step before every muscle in his body sent a message of pain to his already overtaxed brain at once. He screamed, the sound echoing through the large room.  
  
"Jack!" Elizabeth screamed, "What is it? What's wrong! Oh God, oh God," she muttered seeing his body fall limp to the ground. Blood spilling from his nose, a corner of his mouth, and the most horrific yet, the corners of his eyes. She didn't run to him, no matter how much a part of her was screaming to. She merely sank to the ground, hugging her knees close to her body and rocking gently back and forth. Jack convulsed on the ground a few times, but otherwise didn't move. "Jack," she moaned again, and finally, he made some movement. She let go of her knees and crept ever so slightly towards him, her fist clenched around the small dagger he had given to her. She didn't think she'd be able to use it, but she couldn't get her hand to let it go. He shuddered at his name, but at least it wasn't a convulsion. "Jack, talk to me. Are you still there?"  
  
Jack rolled over and Elizabeth drew back in horror upon seeing his face. His eyes were thankfully not the pale blue of her nightmares, but they were.......blank, was the only way she could describe it. "Jack?" her voice wavered as she looked down at him. "Jack, don't do this to me. Answer me, please. You're scaring me," she pleaded with him, daring to shake him a little. He still didn't move, only stared straight up at her, not saying a word. "Jack please," she sobbed, her tears beginning to fall upon his prone form.  
  
"It......." Jack mumbled slowly, causing Elizabeth to gasp. "It was......a bloody bad idea to come in here, Miss Elizabeth," he finally managed to say, causing Elizabeth to let out a little half laugh, half sob in her joy.  
  
'Wait, Miss Elizabeth?' those words sent a chill through her veins. 'Had the name been just a slip of the tongue? Or, or,' she couldn't bring herself to think what else being called that again might mean. "No, not now," she murmured. "Jack, please tell me you're alright."  
  
Jack looked up at her, a clearly confused look crossing his bloodied face. "Who's Jack, Miss Elizabeth?"  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: *evil chuckle* I am so evil. I hadn't planned that ending at all until the TBC was already written, how about that? But have no fear. I have already started on the next chapter. I couldn't just leave poor Jack like that, could I? Well, maybe I could.  
  
Reviewer Thanks:  
  
100 reviews!! I can't believe it!! You guys rock!!! Drinks all around!!!  
  
Miss B: My wonderful, indispensable beta. What would I do without you? Well, I would post anyway, but it wouldn't be pretty. Thanks!!  
  
Otherhawk: I'm glad you're liking the new levels of darkness. There are many more to come.  
  
Halia: Everybody take note and give thanks to Halia on this one, she is the one who made me start the new chapter early.  
  
BURN THE R.U.M.: Don't worry, Lorelac will burn........eventually. And don't take it out on your computer either!! Pillows are ok, down with pillows! I'm also sorry for your sake to say that the angst isn't going to end. Not with this story, and certainly not with the sequel, that is already forming in my evil little brain. As for whether or not Liz is pregnant? She hasn't let me know yet.  
  
Estelio*Duredhel: Yes, it was horribly angsty, wasn't it? I hope this chapter wasn't as bad. Sure, the ending was a kick in the teeth, but how about the rest of the chapter?  
  
Scarlett Burns: I'm glad you're still liking my story! I hope you liked the Will and Chief Norry scenes. They were fun to write. :-) As for how much more Liz and Jack can take? I'm sorry to say that it better be quite a bit more.  
  
Savvyness: Well, that's a good way to look at it. As long as everything turns out alright in the end, everything's fine. I wish I could say that everything was going to turn out alright in the end, but I alas cannot. This story's going to be over in a few more chapters, and then the sequel will begin. And the only reason to write sequels is if you left something unresolved in the first story, right? Right.  
  
jack_roks: I'm glad you liked the Jack POV's. There will be more of them in the next chapter.  
  
Mistress of Destruction: Thank you so much for the lovely comment!! Chapter 10 was hard to write, and I'm glad you enjoyed my writing if not the content, at least. I didn't enjoy the content either. And I hope you liked the Will and Norry scenes in this one. They were loads of fun to write. I figured it was about time to give those boys their own story.  
  
Lady Russell Holmes: Aww, I love you too Lady Holmes. And thanks so much for adding me to your favorites list!!  
  
Jacklyn: Thank you so much for the compliment!! I'm glad you like my story!!  
  
Mara: You get the virtual box of rum filled chocolates, because you were my 100th reviewer!!! *throws party in Mara's honor* I love having Norry be a good guy too, he's such a teddy bear!! Jack's decent was well, interesting to write. I didn't necessarily plan it from the beginning, but after awhile, it seemed the only course of action. As to the critique on the rape scene, yes I was aware of that. But, I had Liz begin to enjoy it for purely dramatic and angst-filled reasons, so when she finally has to face what happened to her, there will be that added little 'bonus' to deal with.  
  
Again, thank you to everyone!! And as I said before, the new chapter is already started, a sequel will be on the way in a few more chapters, and if you haven't read my OUATIM fic, Darkness Rising, please do!! I figure that if you're reading both of my fics, it won't seem like such a long time in between updates for either of them. :-)  
  
-Merrie 


	13. Chapter 12: Remembrances and Reunions

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: Only the voice, Jack's insanity, and Norry's illness are mine. I seem to have gotten the raw end of the deal, huh?  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac the Hated.  
  
Author's Note: To Halia who somehow coerced me into writing this chapter earlier than I intended to, and acting as a wonderful beta. Thanks!!! Ultimately, this chapter is definitely a bit more light-hearted than my previous ones have been. Enjoy.  
  
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and extreme angst.  
  
Chapter 12: Remembrances and Reunions  
  
Elizabeth sat back in shock. No, it wasn't possible. This could not be happening. Not now. No one could be that cruel. No God, no Devil, no one. This was simply not happening. And yet, seeing Jack's wide dark eyes stare back at her uncomprehending assured her that it was happening, and it was happening right now. "What do you mean, 'who's Jack?' You're Jack!" she couldn't keep herself from shouting. Jack winced.  
  
"Please don't yell at me, Miss. I don't know who you're talking about," he whimpered, acting as if she had threatened to hit him across the face.  
  
"Who are you? What is your name?" she asked as calmly as she could to the bloodied man before him, praying that he would remember.  
  
Jack heisted a long moment, his eyes widening with fear. "I can't remember! Please Miss, why can't I remember who I am?" Jack pleaded with her, sitting upright, not even seeming to feel any of the pain he must clearly be in.  
  
'I can't do this right now,' Elizabeth moaned to herself. "Your name is Jack Sparrow, and you're my friend. You're a captain on a pirate ship. Do you remember any of this?"  
  
Jack didn't hesitate before sputtering, "A pirate ship? Surely not. I would never lower myself to do such a thing. And a lady as clearly refined as you might be by your speech rather than your dress shouldn't be talking about such things in the first place." He looked down at his own jacket buttoned up all the way over her naked form with a look of distaste. Elizabeth gaped. Again, whoever this man lying before her was, he was not her friend Captain Jack Sparrow. His accent was all wrong again. But it wasn't the chilling Celtic tones of Lorelac this time, no; it was a proper upper-class British accent that made her hand clench the dagger she was holding even harder.  
  
"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked again, sensing a change in her friend. This was something new, and she didn't trust it.  
  
"Edward John Corentin Alexandre Sperling. At your service, milady," he said, rising inexplicably to his feet before she could stop him and giving a small bow, blood dripping down his chin.  
  
"Miss Elizabeth Swann," she mumbled on instinct. Sperling, she had heard that word before, but where? After a moment's thought, it came to her. Her German was a bit lacking, but she remembered a handful of words. Sperling meant sparrow, and Jack was a variation of John. 'My God,' she thought, 'it's not possible, is it?'  
  
"A pleasure, Miss Swann," the man who was not Jack again said, bowing once more, blood beginning to drip too the ground. She was amazed that he didn't notice it. "I confess, you seem somewhat familiar. Have I had the pleasure of your company before and have regrettably forgotten it? Not that I would forget such a beauty such as yourself," he cut himself off with what might have been a blush under the blood coating his cheeks. A blush! Elizabeth felt as if she were going to faint. "Forgive me, Miss Swann. That was uncalled for. We've just met."  
  
"No, you are correct Edward, we have met before. We have been the closest of friends for over a year now," she added, playing along with whatever was happening before her.  
  
"Please call me John or Jack, Miss Swann. I have always detested the name Edward. It is a family name, and I have never cared for it. Would it be too bold of me to ask if I may call you Elizabeth in return? If it is, I apologize," he added hastily. "The closest of friends, you say? Dear, I do regret not remembering that. I wonder why I cannot," he pondered aloud with a frown, blood running quickly down his cheeks at the movement. He finally noticed it as a drop made its way to his lips, and encountered his tongue. "Good Lord! I seem to have cut myself, haven't I? I don't suppose you have a handkerchief handy, Elizabeth? I seem to have misplaced......." he trailed off as he looked down at himself, more accurately, as he looked down at what he was wearing. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked, his hands running over his dirtied once white shirt, baggy breeches, and faded red and white sash. His eyes widened even further as he took a good look at his hands. From the rings, to the dirt to the tattoo.  
  
'Uh oh,' Elizabeth thought with a wince. 'Here it comes.'  
  
"What in the blazes is going on here?" 'John' shouted, having pulled up his sleeve as far as it would go, seeing that the tattoo kept going. "Why am I dressed in these rags? And what are these markings on my arm?"  
  
"I wouldn't go so far as to call them rags," Elizabeth muttered under her breath, not believing her ears. What was happening? "What is the last thing you remember, Jack? You have to remember meeting me! You called me Miss Elizabeth before I had even told you my name!"  
  
"There's no need to shout, I'm standing right beside you," Jack said irritably. "Please, if you would be so kind, please tell me what's going on here? Why am I dressed in this manner?" he asked slowly, his dark brown eyes wide and confused, pleading with her to make everything alright.  
  
Elizabeth took a deep breath, and told the truth, "Your name is Captain Jack Sparrow. You're captain of the Black Pearl, the fastest pirate ship in the Caribbean. Your entire crew was killed recently in a cave-in, oh, and you're possessed by a spirit or something by the name of Lorelac," she cast a glance to see how Jack was reacting to all of this once she had finished. Her eyes widened to see that he was deathly pale underneath the blood on his face.  
  
"Surely you jest," he said slowly, his eyes wide.  
  
"I'm afraid not, Jack. It's all true. What's the last thing you remember?" Elizabeth asked him.  
  
"This is not happening. There is no way I would become a pirate! Let alone a pirate captain! And possessed by some demon? You must be joking. I am not a child, Miss Swann. Do not attempt to treat me as such with your fairy tales." Jack said coldly.  
  
Elizabeth found herself getting angry. She knew whatever happening wasn't Jack's fault, but the man in front of her was just so........so, infuriating! "Listen here, Captain Sparrow, for that is who you are, I am telling you the truth. Every last word. I don't care if you believe me or not. And as for treating you like a child? Well then stop behaving as if you were one! You're a grown man!" A thought occurred to Elizabeth, and her anger deflated in a flash. "Wait a minute, what year is it?" she asked him, fearing the worst.  
  
"1673," Jack answered automatically, too stunned by the randomness of the question to hesitate. Once he had calmed himself a bit, he asked, "Why? What year do you think it is?" Jack asked in a tone of voice that clearly implied she would be incorrect in whatever answer she gave, even if it matched his, which it didn't.  
  
Elizabeth groaned. "It's 1693, Jack. I don't care whether or not you believe me, it's the truth." She sighed before continuing. "What's the last thing you remember? You believe its 1673, right? That would make you how old?" Elizabeth asked, ultimately curious to discover more about Jack and his past despite their current situation.  
  
"Twenty," Jack said, pulling himself a little taller in an unneeded attempt to make himself look older.  
  
Elizabeth nearly laughed out loud at the sight. "And you name is Edward John Corentin Alexandre Sperling, correct? Goodness, what a mouthful. You obviously changed your name sometime in the future, your future, but it's not all that different. Sperling means sparrow in German, correct?"  
  
Jack hesitated, but finally spoke up, "Correct. But I don't see how that changes anyth—" he was cut off by a wave of Elizabeth's hand.  
  
"John Sperling equals Jack Sparrow. Believe it, Captain," she said sternly. "We don't have time for your doubts. Lorelac is undoubtedly causing this, and I don't like it," she said with a shudder, rubbing her hands on her arms as if cold.  
  
"I simply don't see how any of this is possible, Miss Swann. For someone to have forgotten the last twenty years of his life is inconceivable. Not to mention the fact that I don't believe in demons, or whatever you claim this," he trailed off, unable to remember Lorelac's name.  
  
"Lorelac," Elizabeth supplied.  
  
"This Lorelac to be. He can't be real," Jack finished. "And if I was truly, possessed, as you say, I would know it. And there's no proof of---"  
  
'Well isn't this an interesting development,' Lorelac whispered.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Jack asked aloud, causing Elizabeth to frown.  
  
"Hear what, Jack? Oh God, what now?" she said to herself.  
  
'You really don't remember me, do you Sparrow? I think I'm hurt. With all that we've done together. I'll admit that I may be responsible for some of this; your pathetic mortal brain simply isn't able to handle my presence properly. I guess I don't blame you really. I knew something like this would happen sooner or later. But in truth, I expected it to be later. Much later. It seems as if I overestimated you, Sparrow. A shame,' Lorelac tsked.  
  
"Who are you?!" Jack shouted, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. He turned to Elizabeth, and she drew back at the slightly manic look in his eyes. "Tell me you heard that," he pleaded with her. "I can't be possessed, I don't believe in demons."  
  
'Believe it. Although it seems that I have to remind you of who I am. My name is Lorelac, and I am a god, not a demon. I have been around that you're entire race has, and I will be here long after it is gone.'  
  
Jack slumped to the ground at this, his bloodied head clutched in his trembling hands. "This can't be happening to me. I was just leaving for the docks. I was going to meet my cousin aboard his merchant ship. I don't remember any of this. And I can't be possessed, I refused to believe it. I don't care who this Lorelac says he is, I refuse to believe it."  
  
"Wait, Lorelac? Is he talking to you?" Elizabeth asked with a bit of a tremor in her voice, her eyes casting from side to side in the room as if saying his name would somehow invoke his presence at Jack's shoulder. "What is he saying?" she couldn't help but ask. Her father had always stressed the imperative of 'knowing thine enemy' above many others.  
  
Jack hesitated, a bit of blood trickling from his nose that Liz had noticed seemed to happen to Jack every time she questioned Lorelac or his origins. "He says he's a god, Miss Elizabeth. Someone who's been around a lot longer than we have, and will remain long after we're gone."  
  
***  
  
The part of Jack that was still 'him,' didn't have any clue what was going on. One minute he was walking into the cave, and the next.......this nothingness. He was a prisoner in his own mind once more, and yet he could sense something different about this time. For one, Lorelac seemed to be almost as confused as he was, Jack could feel him prowling the corners of his mind like an anxious lion. But if Jack wasn't in charge of his own body, and Lorelac wasn't either, then who did that leave?  
  
'You are really pathetic, by the way. Can't you manage to keep your brain in one piece?' Lorelac almost sounded as if he were whining.  
  
"If you don't like it, feel free to haunt someone else," Jack mumbled, casting his eyes around the almost entirely barren landscape that made up his prison. "Where in Davy Jones' am I?"  
  
'It's a rather unique phenomena, actually. I think a part of your subconscious or bits and pieces of your memories are in control of your body at the moment. Right now you, the other you, is convinced that its twenty years ago, and you're not yet a pirate. Having rifled through your memories when I first possessed you, how come I never ran across this particular period of your life?'  
  
"Are you really arrogant enough to believe that after all that you've done to me I'd be willing to help you now? Well I hope you rot in hell, you bastard. You're certainly not getting anything out of me."  
  
Lorelac fumed at Jack's impudence, but made no action against him. Not that there was much he could do to him in this place. He could torture the man's body until it was insensible from the pain, but he could do nothing about the man that inhabited it. That didn't mean he couldn't hurt those around him though.......  
  
***  
  
"How is he?" Will asked Kiquan quietly, standing outside the door of Norrington's hut.  
  
"Our chief is very lucky. If he had not come to us when he did, he would probably have been sent to join other warriors on the Kourikan Plain."  
  
"The Kourikan Plain?" Will asked, not catching the reference.  
  
"What my people call your Heaven. He is still gravely ill, William Turner, but he will survive. He is now resting, and we shouldn't disturb him." Will nodded after a moment's hesitation, and the two of them made their way over to a small campfire, which they sat down next to. "Tell me, how was it that you and the chief came to our island?"  
  
"I was telling the truth before. We were shipwrecked here. Three of us sailed out from Port Royal, do you know this place?" Kiquan nodded and Will continued, "We sailed out in search of a friend."  
  
"This must be a valued friend to go out looking for him in a ship crewed by only thee people. What became of your third?" Kiquan asked.  
  
Will cast his eyes down into the fire, the flames dancing on his eyes in the darkness. "Elizabeth was lost to us when the storm came. I don't know what's become of her," Will admitted slowly.  
  
"This Elizabeth was your wife?" Kiquan asked kindly.  
  
"She is to be my wife. Next spring," Will told him.  
  
"Then I should think you would know if she was dead, William Turner. Your woman lives still, do not doubt it," Kiquan reassured him. Will let out a small smile at this, and Kiquan went on, "But what's become of the friend you sought out for? Did you find him?"  
  
"No, we haven't found Jack yet. He's still out there somewhere," Will said, casting his eyes to the dark horizon. A thought occurred to him and he suddenly sat up straight and looked at Kiquan directly. "Perhaps you have seen his ship? He cannot be far from here, I know it. You would be able to recognize this ship at once. It has black sails instead of white."  
  
"I have seen this ship, William Turner." Kiquan responded after a long pause. "Death follows it like the wind. Are you sure the man who sails this ship is your friend?"  
  
"Of course I am!" Will responded without a second thought. After taking a moment to think about Kiquan's words, he went on, "What makes you ask such a question? And what do you mean death follows the Pearl like a wind? Yes, Jack is a pirate, but he's never been known to kill except in self- defense."  
  
"Yes, the Black Pearl. I have heard enough tales about the horrors it's visited upon the people it comes across to make my question. Have you not heard the same stories I have, William Turner?"  
  
"Call me Will," he said absently. "And yes, under Captain Barbossa's reign the Black Pearl was definitely a ship to be feared. But that was almost a year ago. The curse was broken, and Jack's different than Barbossa. Completely different. He wouldn't do such things," Will said with conviction.  
  
"What if I were to tell you that some of the more horrific stories were the more recent ones, Will? Would you believe me?" Kiquan asked softly.  
  
"No," Will said without hesitation. He knew Jack. At least, he thought he did. "Please, if you know where he is, tell me. I need to get to him as soon as possible."  
  
Kiquan looked Will up and down before replying, "Yes, I believe you do. Our scouts have seen the ship you speak of, the Black Pearl, anchored off the shore of an island not far from here."  
  
"What? Take me to it!" Will demanded, his strong desire to finally see Jack again overwhelming his reason at the moment.  
  
"It is dangerous to sail these waters in the daytime, Will. Let alone at night. And I'm certain you would want the chief to go with you on such a journey, correct? If you truly wish to see your friend, then you must wait until tomorrow. The chief will not be well by that time, but I don't believe I will be able to stop him from accompanying you, and at least the sailing will be safer than at night."  
  
Will sighed, but Kiquan made a good point. "Fine, Comm-Chief Norrington and I will leave at dawn. We can't afford to wait any longer, I'm sorry." Will acquiesced with a small frown.  
  
Kiquan nodded. "I understand. I just hope that your friend is who you think he is, and worth all this trouble."  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth sighed in relief to see that Jack had finally seemed to have passed out from exhaustion. The day had been taxing on all of them, and was now taking its toll. 'Dear Lord, has it only been one day since this nightmare began? It seems like years.' She felt her own eyelids growing heavy, the shock of what had happened to her taking its own toll on her battered body. No matter how much she would have liked to have pretended that what happened, what Jack did to her, never happened, her own aching body was a constant reminder. 'No, Jack didn't do it. Don't start thinking like that. Jack's your friend. He would never do something like that.'  
  
'But he's a pirate, Elizabeth,' the voice of her subconscious whispered. 'How many times have you heard the words ravage or rape associated with pirates? You and I both know it's quite a lot.'  
  
"Shut up, it wasn't his fault. He was possessed. He would never do something like that, I don't care what you say," Elizabeth forced herself to keep her voice low. She didn't want to wake up Jack. And it if were 'Edward John' who woke up instead as she feared, she definitely didn't want to wake him up. She didn't have the energy to deal with anything else today. But her mind refused to stop and let herself sleep. Her thoughts kept coming back to the sight of Jack on top of her, the pain and shame that she had felt, the horrible self-loathing afterward. 'Oh God, Will. I am so sorry. What have I done?' she cried herself into an exhausted but restless sleep.  
  
***  
  
"James, wake up. I need you to wake up, alright? We have to go." A somewhat familiar voice made its way through Norrington's muddled consciousness, and he found himself slowly becoming aware of his surroundings.  
  
"Oh, please tell me that everything last night was some horrible dream," he muttered, his eyes still shut tightly. He cautiously opened one of them and groaned as it came to rest on a thatched ceiling of palm leaves, patches of early morning sunlight making their way through the weave.  
  
"I'm afraid not, Chief Norrington," Will said with a small laugh. "But you need to get up. We're leaving."  
  
That got Norrington's attention, and he sat up slowly on the padded mat that made up his bed. "Leaving? Leaving for where?" he asked.  
  
"Your people have spotted Jack and the Pearl anchored in the harbor of an island not far from here. We're off to find him," Will said, standing up from his crouched position at Norrington's side.  
  
"I do wish you wouldn't call them that," Norrington muttered, sitting upright with some effort.  
  
"What? 'Your people?' But they are your people, Chief Norrington," Will said with a smile that Norrington answered with a scowl and a groan. "Do you need any help?" he asked, all traces of his previous humor gone as if they'd never existed.  
  
"I think I'll manage," Norrington said, coming to his feet beside Will with a little stumble, but managing to stay upright. "As soon as the room stops spinning," he muttered, placing a hand on his forehead.  
  
"I'm sorry to make you leave when you're not fully healed, but as much as these people seem to want to serve you, I don't want to leave you here alone with them, especially not in this state," Norrington answered that with a scowl, but Will went on undaunted, "and we need to get to Jack. Something's been directing me to him all along, and I fear that we might have waited too long to get to him," he said with a pensive look out the open window of the little hut.  
  
"It's only been one day," the reality of that statement seemed to dawn on him as Norrington pulled on his sword belt. "Has it really been only one day since all of this began? It seems quite a bit.......longer," he said at last.  
  
"I know what you mean. It's hard to believe it all when you think back on it. But it still feels like it's been too long, somehow. It's like whatever is driving me towards Jack is screaming at me to get to him now, when it had just been strongly suggesting to me get to him earlier."  
  
"And have you figured out what that something is yet?" Norrington asked offhandedly, fastening on his sword belt at his side.  
  
Will ran a hand through his already mussed dark curls. "The closest thing I can think of that might tie the two of us together is the Aztec curse," Will said after a moment's thought. He raised his left hand. "Do you see this?" he gestured to the palm of his hand, where Norrington saw a wide still red scar bisecting it angling down to the right. "Jack's got one just like it. And Elizabeth too, for that matter. The curse needed our blood to be broken, do you understand? It was a complete coincidence that each of us was cut in the same place."  
  
"But how would this link you and Jack, but not Elizabeth if she has the same scar?" Norrington asked.  
  
"Because Elizabeth's blood wasn't actually used to end the curse, only Jack's and my own," Will told him.  
  
"Someday soon you're going to have to tell me the whole story of what went on in that treasure cave, Will," Norrington told him, straightening his appearance as much as he could under the circumstances.  
  
"I promise," Will assured him. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'll be alright," Norrington said unconvincingly, his face still more pale than it should have been in the early morning sunlight.  
  
Will looked at him incredulously, but he didn't question it. It was him after all who had wanted to leave so early. "Then let's go," he said, placing his hat on his head. Norrington did the same and the two of them left the hut only to be greeted with what looked like the entire tribe spread out before them, men, women and children.  
  
"We have come to bid you a safe journey and a hasty return, my chief," Kiquan said, approaching them. He then appeared to repeat the words in his native language. "And also to give you this," he motioned for a young boy to come forward, bearing a sharp-looking dagger in his small hands. "This dagger has been passed down from one chief to the next for as long as our tribe has existed. It is a symbol of your willingness to stand over and protect the tribe with your life. Are you willing to accept this, Norrington?" it was the first time Kiquan had called him anything but chief, and it made Norrington feel inexplicably uncomfortable.  
  
He looked out over the sea of eager faces, each of them pleading with him without saying a word to watch over and protect them. His hands reached out to accept the dagger, and he felt a new sense of duty settle on his shoulders as if it had always been there. He did not know what being these people's chief would mean, but he would not abandon them now, no matter what happened next. "I accept your gift in the spirit with which it is given," he intoned formally, taking the blade into his hands, careful not to cut himself on the sharp blade. A cheer went up through the crowd and Norrington couldn't help but smile.  
  
***  
  
"What do you think he meant by a tattoo?" Will called out over the wind as he manned the rudder of a small sailboat headed in the direction of the island they had been given explicit directions to. "You don't think they'll make you get one now that you're their chief, do you?"  
  
Norrington shuddered, remembering seeing the full body tattoos on every man and woman of the tribe, and nearly half the children as well. "I sincerely hope not. Imagine what the Navy would think if one of their Commodore's was covered in tribal tattoos under his uniform?"  
  
Will laughed at that, then grew serious. "What are you going to tell the Navy about your new position on the island? You know you cannot abandon them now. You've made a promise," Will said quietly.  
  
"I know," Norrington said, rolling the dagger around in his hands. There was an inscription on the blade which Kiquan had translated for him, 'The protector of the people, may his blade never falter nor fail.' "I'm in charge of them now," he said with a tone of acceptance. He turned to look over his shoulder to look at Will but saw that he wasn't paying any attention to him. "Will?"  
  
"James, look. There she is," Will pointed, and Norrington followed his line of sight.  
  
There, in all its dark beauty, sat the Black Pearl, a storm cloud of ebony atop a sea of clear Caribbean blue-green. James had to admit, it was a truly magnificent ship. A frown creased his brow as they got closer to it however, and saw that there was not a living soul aboard. And that was when Norrington remembered. "His entire crew is really dead, dear God," he whispered, but Will somehow heard him over the wind.  
  
"That's why we're here, James. No man should be forced to go through something like this alone. No one."  
  
***  
  
Elizabeth woke up screaming, tight in a nightmare's firm grip. "Jack! No, please don't!" she screamed into the empty cave. When no one answered her frightened screams, her breath began to slow a little bit, the images of the nightmare passed from the present to her memory, where she could try in vain to forget about it. She reached up a hand to her face, and felt her cheeks wet with fresh tears. She hadn't meant to fall asleep in this awful place, she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, and Jack had already.......wait, where was Jack!  
  
Searching frantically in the still dimly torch-lit cavern, she saw no trace of the pirate captain. "Jack? Jack, where are you?" she called out, crawling out through the entrance he had dug out.  
  
"I'm right here, Elizabeth. And I mean it. I am here," he stressed.  
  
"Jack? Is it really you?" Elizabeth asked, not quite daring to hope.  
  
"Oh Lorelac and.......well, the other me are still here," he tapped a temple, "underneath the surface, but they're quiet for now. And I guess that's all I can ask for at this point," his eyes suddenly grew wide and bright. "That, and this. Come with me, Elizabeth. I've got something to show you, something that will make your bloody year, I promise you," he said, waving a hand for her to follow him as he set down the beach. "Look there," he said, and pointed to a spot out to sea.  
  
"What, Jack? I don't see---oh my God, is that a ship?" Elizabeth exclaimed, joy flooding through her body.  
  
"It's more than that. If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, than you and I both know the two men sailing it," Jack said, squinting to get a clearer picture of the fast approaching boat.  
  
Elizabeth turned to him, gripping his arm tightly, and looking him directly in the eye. "You better not be lying to me to keep my spirits up, Jack Sparrow, or I swear I'll slap you so hard you'll see stars for a week. On your already injured cheek," she said, not letting go of his arm for reassurance, but casting her eyes back out to sea.  
  
"I never knew you had it in you, Lizzie," Jack said with pride as he watched the boat get closer and closer. In another few minutes, the two men would be standing in front of them.  
  
"Yes you did, Jack. And don't call me Lizzie," she said, not turning to look at him either, her grip on his arm growing noticeably tighter as the two men came closer to shore.  
  
"Why not? It's a perfectly acceptably form of your name, Lizzie," Jack said with a smirk, clearly intent on never using her full name again.  
  
"My name is Elizabeth, four syllables. *Edward,*" she stressed, enjoying the feeling of him tense underneath her hand.  
  
"That's hitting below the belt, luv," Jack muttered. "Elizabeth, are you going to tell Will what happened between us?" he asked, not able to face her.  
  
"No, I'm not Jack. And neither are you. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened," she said sternly, upset with him for bringing it up when she longed to forget about it.  
  
"It did happen, Elizabeth," he said, finally turning to look at her. She did not meet his gaze, however, her eyes were locked on the sea. "You're going to have to face it sooner or later," he drew is eyes to the now rowing men in the sailboat. Another minute, and they'd be there. "We both will," he added quietly.  
  
Neither of them said another word as they both waited until the two men landed on the beach and came up to greet them.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Ok, I really didn't want to end it there if you can believe that. I want to see this reunion almost as much as you do, but then I looked at the length of this chapter, and decided to end it before it doubled in size.  
  
*Reviewer Thanks Section*  
  
Cursed-Pearl: Yes, Kiquan will become a great ally if they can only learn to trust him. So yeah, he's got a bit of cannibalistic bent. Who doesn't?  
  
Intuitive: Lol. I'm glad you liked it. It was fun to write. I felt as if I needed a bit of humor after all the angst of the previous chapters. I'm glad to know I seem to have succeeded.  
  
Lady Russell Holmes: Yes, poor Jack indeed. There's nothing more I can say. I am very evil to our dear Captain, aren't I?  
  
gypsy: My pal. I'm glad you reviewed. It makes me feel all warm a fuzzy inside. :-) Yes, it was rather "eek-worthy" wasn't it?  
  
BURN THE R.U.M: No, you go ahead and laugh. That was my intention. Yes, there will most definitely be a sequel, with the tentative title of Ruffled Feathers. This story will last only a few more chapters and then the sequel will begin. But don't worry, everything will work alright in the end. And it was a seriously sad matter what happened to poor Liz. It was very difficult to write. Thank you for your continued reviews!  
  
Estelio*Duredhel: Yes, it was certainly a kick in the teeth. I really hadn't wanted to end it there, just like I didn't want to end this chapter where I did, but I didn't want to make it too long. This chapter was already almost 13 pages when I stopped, and I knew I had to stop there or it would have wound up being like 30 pages or something insane like that.  
  
Mara: You're most welcome for the virtual chocolates, my dear 100th reviewer. And yes, to answer your question, Norrington is now responsible for the native people. I'm not sure how he's going to manage that while remaining a naval Commodore yet. We'll just have to find out together.  
  
Blue Trinity: If that makes you a bad person for wishing to see the characters harm, what does that make me for writing it? Don't worry though, I love Jack. I couldn't let him stay too broken. Hear that everyone? And the Norry and Will scenes were an absolute joy to write. Thanks for the review!  
  
Mistress of Destruction: I'm glad you liked the Will and Norry scenes too. They were a lot of fun to write. Chief Norry indeed. *snicker* As for this being the calm of the storm? Maybe, I'm not telling. :-) And yes, there will be a sequel soon. Very soon.  
  
Savvyness: Yes you heard right. A sequel. It's already outlined, but not written. It's gonna be a wild ride.  
  
To all of my reviewers and supporters, thank you!!! You guys are the best!! -Merrie 


	14. Chapter 13: Talking and Taking Time

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I can't be trusted to own these characters. Look what kind of hell I put them through!  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac the Hated.  
  
Author's Note: Ok, for the length it took me to post this, blame ff.net. They yanked this story because of my ONE BLOODY RATED R CHAPTER. And to make matters worse, they wouldn't let me access my account to upload until the 15th. This chapter was finished by the 11th. Yeah, that's right, the 11th. So they yanked it, made me lose ALL of my 115 reviews, and made me up the rating of the entire story when it should have just been ONE CHAPTER! Can you tell I'm a little angry with ff.net right now??  
  
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and extreme angst.  
  
Chapter 13: Talking and Taking Time  
  
Will couldn't believe his eyes. It wasn't possible, was it? Dear God, he hadn't dared to hope that Elizabeth might have found Jack before they did. The thought hadn't even had a chance to cross his mind. But the diminutive and definitely female standing next to Jack's obvious figure on the beach could be no one other than his lost fiancé. "Do you see?" Will took a moment to catch his near hyperventilating breath, "Do you see her, James? Tell me please that you see her. Don't let her be an illusion, not now. I don't think I could take it."  
  
"It's her, Will. I don't know how, but God be praised, it's really her," Norrington said, sounding a little breathless himself.  
  
Will caught that in his voice and looked at him with a frown. The man had been recovering from pneumonia for less than a day. "Are you alright, James? I'm sorry left so abruptly. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't consider how any of this might put a strain on your already bad health. Forgive me," Will implored softly.  
  
"If the two of them standing on the beach really are there and not a hallucination, then any ill I might be feeling right now will have been worth it," Norrington said solemnly.  
  
"I'm glad to have you as a friend, James. I'm sure Jack will be as well. Just don't let him push you around. Behind the gruff piratical exterior, he's really a big softy at heart," Will said with a true smile for the first time since he had woken up yesterday morning.  
  
"Truly?" Norrington couldn't help but ask.  
  
"Well, not really. But once he's decided he likes you, you couldn't help for a more loyal friend," Will said at last.  
  
"You have always spoken highly of him Will. I will trust your judgement. I may not like him, but I at least won't try and hang him this time," Norrington said with a small smile of his own.  
  
Will let out a short laugh at that. "Well that's a start, at least."  
  
The two men didn't say anything further as they rowed toward the couple on the beach, their smiles growing on their faces as they got closer and closer.  
  
***  
  
A sudden thought occurred to Elizabeth as she saw the boat come up on the sand and her face paled dramatically. "Jack, dear God. I'm not wearing anything under your jacket."  
  
"What?" Jack asked her, uncomprehending what she was trying to tell him. Elizabeth gestured to herself, and he paled as well. "Oh bloody hell," he cursed quietly. "There's nothing you can do about it now, I'm afraid. Will and bloody Commodore Norrington are on their way up the beach right now. Just stay covered up, and I'll think of something," he didn't bother asking her if she would rather simply tell the truth, he knew what her answer to that suggestion would be. She was determined to put what had happened between the two of them behind her as if it had never happened. Jack couldn't. He couldn't forget the sight of Elizabeth's pained face beneath his own, her pleading with him to stop. It didn't matter that he hadn't been in control of his body at the time; Lorelac had graciously allowed him to feel every thing his body would have if he had been the one......the one raping her. He had felt her body trembling under his with fear, and felt her wrists grasped harshly in one of his hands, he had felt everything, and those feelings would haunt him to his grave. But he put on a small smile for the sake of the young man coming up on the beach, the friend whose fiancé he had so ruthlessly violated.  
  
"Jack," the friend and fiancé addressed him, startling him out of his thoughts. "Dear God, Jack what's happened to your face?"  
  
Jack absently pressed a finger lightly to the deep cauterized gouge along his cheek and suppressed a wince. "Oh that? It's nothing you need worry yourself about now, Will," Jack took a moment to take in his friend's concerned brown eyes. "Damn it's good to see you, whelp," he whispered. And before he could react, he found himself in a tight embrace. "Uh thanks—" Jack started to say, but before the words had even left his mouth, Will had released him as quickly as he had embraced him and turned to Elizabeth, giving her one of the deepest and passion-filled kisses he had ever seen in his long years among the fairer sex.  
  
Jack turned to behold the naval Commodore who was looking both a little uncomfortable at the affectionate display and a little unsteady on his feet. "Commodore Norrington. How in God's name did you get roped into this? I thought you wanted to see me hung?" he hesitated for a moment, and frowned deeply, wincing as the action pulled at the wound on his face. He had a feeling that he would have more than a little trouble keeping his naturally animated face still enough to heal. "You don't, do you?"  
  
Norrington let out a genuine laugh at that, which startled Jack. "No, I don't want to see you hang, you daft pirate. I didn't come all this bleeding way to rescue you just to see you meet a dangling end."  
  
"Genuinely pleased to hear it, Commodore. Or may I call you James? I always liked you; did I ever tell you that? And I like you infinitely better now that you've gotten rid of that stupid wig. I always hated such things. They itch like the devil," Jack said smiling.  
  
"When were you ever in a wig, Sparrow?" Norrington asked incredulously.  
  
"You'd be surprised, James," Elizabeth answered for him, sounding breathless from Will's fervent kiss.  
  
Will sounded a little breathless himself when he looked over Elizabeth for the first time, "Dear God, Elizabeth! What happened to your clothes?"  
  
Elizabeth self-consciously held Jack's jacket shut tighter as she glanced down at what she was wearing, or rather not wearing. She couldn't tell Will what had really happened to his clothes without telling him what had happened, and that was something she was not going to do ever if she could help it. She just wanted to put the whole nightmare behind her.  
  
Jack felt her unease so he decided to speak up. "I think the storm tore up her clothes, Will. I confess I earned a few slaps after first seeing her, but she somehow convinced a hardened pirate like me to turn his back and hand her his coat. I'm not entirely sure how," he paused and could see Elizabeth's gratitude as Will seemed to accept the story. "So, what brings you two to this godforsaken little island? Have you come to rescue your little mermaid here?" Jack asked with a small somewhat forced smile in Elizabeth's direction.  
  
"No Jack, we've come to rescue you. But from the looks of things, it seems as if we were too late," Will said softly, looking first to Jack's bloodied face and then to the bodies of his crew lined up on the shore.  
  
Jack looked over his shoulder to follow Will's line of sight. "Oh, them? Don't worry about them. They've been keeping me company when Elizabeth wasn't here."  
  
"Sparrow, you don't have to do this," Norrington said softly. "No one would fault you for mourning the loss of so many. Please don't insult us as if the deaths of your entire crew meant nothing to you. I have lost men before, nothing as nightmarish as this of course, but I have. And their deaths still haunt me to this very day. It's all right to feel sorrow for their deaths."  
  
"Don't you dare tell me how deign to tell me how I'm feeling, Norrington. Don't you dare. You don't even know me," Jack said coldly, with such an abrupt change in emotion that Will gasped on Norrington's behalf.  
  
"You're correct, Captain Sparrow. Forgive me for assuming you had any feelings," Norrington said just as coldly.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, Norrington," Jack said suddenly, his body seeming to fold in on itself. "I don't know why I said that," he slumped to the ground suddenly and the two men and woman were immediately at the pirate captain's side.  
  
"Jack, are you still with me?" Elizabeth asked softly. Will and Norrington had to be told about Lorelac and Jack's temporary descent into madness, but now didn't seem like the time.  
  
"Still here," Jack murmured after taking a minute to re-center himself. Lorelac was playing with him, it seemed. "For now, anyway," he had to add. It would be foolish to think that Lorelac would just leave him alone.  
  
"Jack, what's wrong? You never answered my question? What happened to your face? What happened to your crew? What was that just now?" Will asked, in reference to Jack's collapse to the ground.  
  
"Just leave it alone, Will. Don't ask me that, please. I can't—" Jack broke off suddenly, and didn't say another word, merely sat on the sand, not looking at any of them, as still as if he had been turned to stone.  
  
"Jack? Say something, please. Let me know you're still there," Elizabeth pleaded with him, a cold wave of fear running down her spine as he went still. Jack didn't answer. She looked to Will and Norrington, her eyes wide. "Oh God, not again. He was doing all right. He was doing better," she muttered to herself. "Jack! Don't do this, not now! We're here to help you! But we can't help you if you don't help us! Now answer me!" Still, Jack did not answer her, merely stared blankly out to sea, the only signs that he was still among the living being the gentle rise and fall of his chest, and the fact that his dark eyes were wide open.  
  
"Elizabeth, what's happening? What's wrong with him?" Will shouted, her anxiety was catching, it seemed, and Jack wasn't answering her.  
  
Elizabeth didn't answer him, only drew her right hand back sharply and laid her palm across Jack's injured cheek with a loud crack that made both men wince. Jack's head jerked to the left so quickly that he almost toppled over into the sand.  
  
"Bloody hell......." he muttered slowly, stars fluttering before his eyes. Elizabeth had put her full body weight into the slap on his already injured cheek, and now his entire face felt like it was on fire.  
  
"Are you going to stay with us, or am I going to have to do that again?" Elizabeth asked, preparing herself to strike him again when he put a tattooed hand up, his other one lightly pressed on his throbbing cheek.  
  
"I'm here, I'm here. Just don't slap me again," he whispered; his voice hoarse with pain. "That bloody hurt, you unmerciful wench."  
  
"If it helps keep whatever's snapping at your heels at bay, I'll be as unmerciful as I need to be. Savvy?" Elizabeth said solemnly.  
  
"Savvy," Jack agreed. "The word suits you, luv," he said with a small wince that he'd probably intended to be a smirk before turning back to Will and Norrington. "I'm sorry Will, you were saying something?"  
  
"Oh no you don't, Jack Sparrow. You're going to tell me what the hell is going on, right now or by God I'll knock you to your back so fast you're head will be spinning," Will threatened.  
  
"And I'll help," Norrington added.  
  
"What is this? I'm not safe around any of you people now? I thought you came here to rescue me?" Jack asked, his voice half joking.  
  
Will sighed, trying to calm himself down. He didn't like people keeping secrets from him, especially friends. "We are here to help you, Jack. But please for the love of God, tell us what's going on. What happened just then?"  
  
"Either you tell them, or I will, Jack," Elizabeth said, but then sent him a look which he interpreted as she still didn't want him to tell Will *everything* yet.  
  
Jack sighed, "Fine. I'll tell you my little tale as soon as my head bleeding stops spinning from dear Lizzie's wake-up call. And I wouldn't mind getting cleaned up a little, if it's all the same to you. I'm sure my face is a bloody mess by now."  
  
"There are a few natural pools of water in the cave; I'll go dip a cloth in one of them. Sea water will only make it hurt worse." Elizabeth hurried off, looking guilty for the way she had treated him. It had been the only way she could think of to get him to snap out of whatever state his mind had gone too, but that didn't stop her from feeling guilty about it. She returned a minute later with a dripping piece of cloth in one of her hands. She gently cleaned every last trace of blood off of Jack's face, and cleansed the deep wound at his cheek as best she could. Without the dirt and blood to mask it, it looked quite wretched.  
  
"What's the matter? Not charmed by my looks anymore, Lizzie?" Jack asked with a small smile once she had finished.  
  
"I never was in the first place, Jack. And don't call me Lizzie, Edward," she intentionally let his first name slip. It was the least she could do for his continued insistence in calling her that horrible nickname.  
  
Jack closed his eyes in a wince, and hoped Will and Norrington hadn't picked up on the slip. He hadn't hoped hard enough, apparently. "Who's Edward, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked.  
  
"No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed," Jack said in a rush. Norrington didn't look as if he believed it any more than Barbossa had. Damn.  
  
"Who's Edward, James? Why, you're looking at him. Gentlemen, may I introduce.......let's see if I remembered all of this, Edward John Corintin Alexandre Sperling, better known to us as Jack Spa—" her voice was cut off abruptly by Jack's rather dirty right hand.  
  
"The lass has gone a little funny in the head, I'm afraid. Too much time spent out in the sun, it seems. It's best if you didn't pay any attention to her ramblings," Jack said, his hand firmly placed over Elizabeth's mouth, preventing her from speaking. That didn't prevent her from biting, however, and he drew back his offended hand with a short yelp.  
  
Norrington and Will seemed rather amused by the display until Elizabeth's words had sunk in. "Jack Sparrow's not your real name?" Will asked slowly, a bit hurt that Jack had never shared this with him.  
  
Jack shut his eyes tight and groaned in resignation. "No, Jack Sparrow is not my bloody name, alright? But that's not the story I'm telling you, so don't even ask," he said, his tone brooking no argument. "Jack Sparrow is bloody close enough to my real name to let it slide anyway," he muttered.  
  
"In German, Sperling means Sparrow, doesn't it?" Norrington asked.  
  
"Yes, but that's all I'll say about it, savvy? We've got bigger problems to deal with right now. Much bigger," Jack said slowly. "I seem to be cursed, or possessed rather, by an evil bastard who goes by the name of Lorelac," he paused as he felt his nose begin to bleed, and Elizabeth placed the wet cloth in his hand without him asking for it. "He doesn't like it when I talk about him so he causes this," he said, gesturing to his still bleeding nose. "I'm somehow cursed again, but I don't care about that right now. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you believe me. He's dangerous. I'm dangerous. Keep that in mind."  
  
"You're cursed? Is that what caused the death of all our crew, Jack?" Will asked softly.  
  
"I think so," Jack said after a long minute. "They were all killed in a cave-in at the same time. All except Ana, that is," Jack's voice had dropped to a whisper. No one said anything for a full minute after that, feeling the need to honor the dead with their silence. "That's not all, I'm afraid."  
  
"There's more?" Norrington asked a little incredulously.  
  
Jack sent a small smile his direction. "Unfortunately so. You see, I've never been what you'd call completely sane, as I'm sure you're all aware. I've always had a bit of an eccentric personality, and I know it. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, what can I say?" he waited for them all to laugh at that before continuing, "But I am human, no matter what I might sometimes like to believe, and the events of today.......let's just say they took their toll. You can ask Elizabeth. I'm afraid I haven't been the most gracious of hosts on this here isle, lately."  
  
The two men looked at Elizabeth, reading in between the lines of what Jack had said. "What happened that Jack isn't telling us, Elizabeth?" Norrington asked her.  
  
For a moment, Elizabeth felt certain that he could somehow see what had happened to her, what Jack had done to her, without her saying a word. Her throat dried and her face paled before she suddenly realized they were talking about Jack and how he had gone mad. She let out a short sigh of relief and told them her story, without a word from the men standing on the beach beside her to interrupt.  
  
"Not my most shining moment," Jack said with a sad smile. "And as much as I bloody wish I could say I'm better, it would be a lie. I'm barely hanging it on, as it is." This was hard for Jack to admit, especially in front of friends and once enemies, but he had to make them aware of what was happening to him. He could slip again at any moment, and Lorelac could take over again.  
  
'What makes you think I can't take over now, Jack?' the once-god interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"What? What is it, Jack?" Will asked, seeing Jack tense.  
  
"He's talking to you right now, isn't he?" Norrington said slowly. "This Lorelac, or whatever his name is. He's decided to join us, hasn't he Jack?"  
  
If Jack noticed Norrington's use of his first name, he made no sign. "Yes. He's here. The bastard is here right now asking me if I truly think he can't just take over right now and hurt all of you," he whispered.  
  
"Don't listen to him, Jack. We're here to help you, even if that means tying you up until we can find out a way to break this curse, or possession, or whatever it is. How did you manage to get cursed in the first place, anyway? I would have thought you had learned from what had happened last time, Jack," Will said with a small frown.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. "I have poor impulse control, all right? I'm a bleedin' pirate! Have you seen the piles of gold in there?"  
  
"Cursed gold? Haven't we already gone through that enough? How on earth did you manage to come across cursed gold twice in your lifetime, Jack?" Will asked exasperatedly. "Please don't tell me I have to give my blood to break it this time. That was an experience I'd rather not repeat, if you don't mind."  
  
"To tell you the truth lad, I haven't the faintest idea how to break this one. I don't even know how I ended up cursed in the first place. I didn't take any of the treasure. And I bloody have no idea why Lorelac chose me in the first place. There were plenty of other people around. Why me? Why did I survive when........when he killed everyone else? It doesn't make any sense," Jack slumped back onto the sand again dejectedly, and his companions took seats as well, forming a small circle around him. Jack didn't notice any of this, so lost was he in his own thoughts, but he felt comforted by their presence. Finally, he looked up, and started a bit to see all of them seated around him. "Will, I want you to, I want you to tie me up. At least, for a little while. I'm not safe, Will, not safe at all. I don't want to hurt anyone else."  
  
"Jack I don't think—" Will started.  
  
"No! I won't hurt anyone else! I let my crew die, Will. Do you understand that? They're dead because of me! I killed them, you see. I knew about the curse all along. I knew about it, and I led them to their deaths smiling, Will. Smiling! I was happy to see them die, did you know that? At least they're free of this place. Of this life. If it hadn't been for Miss Elizabeth, I would have been free. But she stopped me, she stopped me, and I hurt her. I hurt her, oh God, I hurt her," Jack moaned, but his eyes remained dry and without tears as he had promised. He would never cry again. His gaze dropped to his lap, and his unbound hair hung around his face like a dark curtain.  
  
No one spoke after that. Elizabeth slowly looked over Will and Norrington's faces to see their reactions to seeing Jack like this for the first time. They were both pale, and looked a little sick. She imagined that must have been what she had looked like when she had first seen him, too. It seemed like such a long time ago, now. Finally, it was Will who broke the silence.  
  
"What did he mean, you stopped him, Elizabeth? What did you stop him from doing? Does this have to do with the wound on his cheek that he wouldn't tell me about?" he asked softly, leaving Jack to his thoughts, not daring to speak to his friend for the moment.  
  
"He tried to kill himself, Will. He had a pistol underneath his chin. If I hadn't pushed his arm out of the way," she couldn't finish the thought; the horror of the scene was still too fresh in her mind.  
  
"If she hadn't pushed my hand away I would have blown my brains out without a second thought," Jack supplied softly, looking up at them through his dark locks. "You see how close I came," he gestured to the nasty mark on his cheek, "I got this from the bullet. A nice little reminder that I'll more than likely carry for the rest of my days, however many that will be. Go get the rope, whelp. I'll not ask you again." Jack said sternly, holding his back straight and proud, looking every inch the pirate captain that he was now, still in command of a ship if not necessarily of himself or a crew.  
  
Will merely nodded and did as he was ordered to without comment. Something in him responded to Jack's tone of voice. Maybe it was the 'pirate in his blood,' that Jack had always gone on about. 'Dear God, Jack,' he thought with a shudder. He couldn't imagine what Elizabeth had gone through to see him like that. He couldn't imagine what Jack must be going through. To have all of your friends die around you in an instant, and then to be haunted by some spirit that clearly liked causing Jack pain. Will couldn't wrap his mind around that especially. To have another presence within your own mind.......it was enough to drive a man mad, he mused. It *had* driven a man mad.  
  
Will shook his head to clear his thoughts and concentrated on what he was doing. He had to find something to tie Jack up with. He didn't necessarily believe the pirate captain was dangerous, but Jack had been insistent, and it was best to humor him for the moment. After a moment's frenzied search, he finally located a coil of thick rope that would suit Jack's needs in the small boat he and Norrington had borrowed from the tribe's people, and brought it back to Jack. "Will this do?" he asked.  
  
"Aye, that should work fine as long as you make the knots tight enough so I can't work my way out. I've had a lot of experience in that area, so I'll let you know how tight is too tight," he turned to Norrington, "I suggest you get Jimmy here to tie the knots though. He's no doubt had experience in restraining pirates," he suggested with a small grin in Norrington's direction.  
  
"Don't call me that, or I shall be forced to use Elizabeth's tactic and start referring to you as Edward. Do I make myself clear, Captain Sparrow?" Norrington said, taking the coiled rope from Will and moving over to tie Jack's hands together.  
  
"Looks like you haven't found yourself a sense of humor to go with that new look, mate," Jack mumbled as Norrington started tying his hands together. "Tighter, or I'll get free. And you'd better tie my legs together as well," he said, waiting for the protestations he knew would come.  
  
"Jack, you can't be serious. Tying your hands together is one thing. But come on, Jack. Is all this really necessary?" Will asked with a frown.  
  
Jack cast a glance at Elizabeth, unthinkingly trying to gesture with the expressive hands that Norrington was currently attempting to tie together. "Ask her. She'll tell you." Norrington grunted, and Jack stilled his hands with a slightly apologetic look.  
  
Elizabeth sighed. "It's necessary, Will, James. Lorelac would hurt us if he was given the chance. And Jack wouldn't be able to do anything about it. So tie him up. For his sake, and for our own."  
  
"When did you get this, Jack?" Norrington asked, pointing down to the tattoo that covered Jack's left hand.  
  
"Did I not tell you about the tattoo?" Jack asked, looking over to Elizabeth for verification. When she shook her head, he turned back to Norrington. "Raise up my right sleeve and unbutton my shirt if you would be so kind, Commodore," Jack took in Norrington's look at his request, and smirked. "Don't worry; I'm not going to bite you."  
  
Norrington rolled his eyes at that, and did as Jack had asked without comment. He gasped when Jack's shirt had been pushed down off his shoulders. The black lines of the tattoo were now covering more than half of his chest.  
  
"Dear God," Elizabeth muttered, coming over to Jack's side.  
  
"What? It's a tattoo, Sparrow's got a dozen more like it, I'm sure. What's wrong with this one?" Norrington asked with a confused frown.  
  
"Judging by your reaction, Elizabeth, I'll bet it's grown since the last time you saw it," Jack looked down at his chest, saw the lines of the tattoo, and cursed softly before continuing. "You see, this isn't anything at all like my other tattoos. I'm not even sure it's a tattoo at all, that's simply the only name I know to call it. When I first came to this godforsaken spit of land, it wasn't there; it didn't exist. It formed when Lorelac first took possession of me. Nothing like it is now; it was only covering my hand then. Each time he takes over, it gets a little bigger. I don't know what will happen when it covers my entire body, but I doubt it will be good," he whispered before turning back to Norrington. "If you would please pull my shirt back up, Commodore?" he asked politely, looking Norrington straight in the eye.  
  
Norrington started to see a pair of two cold, pale blue eyes staring back at him, shook his head to dismiss such an obvious delusion brought on by his still lingering illness, and looked again. Jack's own brown eyes stared up at him in confusion. "Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked with concern. "You're not looking too good."  
  
"I'm fine. I just thought I saw.......nevermind. It was nothing. I'll tie your legs together if you still want," he asked, reaching down to Jack's legs, preparing to connect the rope that bound his wrists together to his legs as well.  
  
"As a matter of fact," Jack started, before pulling his bound hands over Norrington's head and moving around to his back so that he could choke him with his bound wrists. "What a pleasure it is to meet all of you finally," Lorelac said through Jack's voice, his accent once more the highland lilt that had haunted Elizabeth's dreams. He quickly stood up, forcing Norrington up on his knees, and he slowly increased the pressure on Norrington's neck, making the military man gasp, and claw at the rope around his throat.  
  
"Let him go, you bastard!" Elizabeth shouted, her eyes locked with Lorelac's pale blue ones.  
  
"Ahh, darling Elizabeth. What a pleasure it is to see you again, my dear. We've got a lot to talk about, you and I. I assume you haven't told them anything yet?" Lorelac stated with a cold smirk crossing Jack's face.  
  
"Let me, go!" Norrington rasped, his face beginning to turn a rosy color as his air supply was slowly cut off.  
  
"What was that, I couldn't quite hear," Lorelac smirked, not letting him go, but not letting any pressure up, either. "How in my name did you get yourself dragged into this mess, anyway James? May I call you that? You haven't answered my question, James. I thought you hated Sparrow. Why would you join the rescue of a man you hated? I really want to know," Lorelac asked, loosing the rope at Norrington's neck just enough to let him answer.  
  
"Because no one should have to put up with a bastard like you, Lorelac," Norrington spat at the ground after Lorelac's name. "I would rescue a thousand of the most ruthless and wretched pirates in the ocean, which Jack definitely is not, to see you burn in hell. Mark my words, we will find a way to defeat you. Jack will find a way to defeat you."  
  
Jack's face went still, Lorelac's blue eyes blazing an artic fire. "Foolish mortals. You have no idea what you're dealing with. None. You cannot hope to beat me, I am a god!" his voice seemed to grow louder, echoing throughout the beach.  
  
"I don't care you who are. You're nothing to me. I don't even care to remember your name. The only person I care about right now is Jack. I know he's in there, and he's stronger than you could ever hope to be. I believe that more than I believe in you," Will spoke solemnly.  
  
"You know what; I think I'm almost hurt by that, William. It's a shame your dead mother and father never had a chance to teach you any manners. But I guess I can hardly blame them. A pirate and his whore are hardly role models, now are they, Will?" Lorelac asked with a wicked smile.  
  
Liz had to hold Will back from striking Jack in his anger at such a statement. Most of him knew that it wasn't Jack who was saying the hurtful words about his parents, but a more persuasive and impulse part of him was instructing him to beat Jack's face into the sand. Right now. If it hadn't been for Elizabeth's arms on his shoulders, holding him almost ineffectually back, he would have followed that impulse. "You bastard," he hissed. "You would like that, wouldn't you? You want to torment me into striking Jack, my friend, when he's the innocent here. I won't play your game. Now let Norrington and Jack go. You have no power here. You can't hurt us." Will stated firmly.  
  
"Oh no? But I can do this," Lorelac said with a scowl, simultaneously tightening his grip around Norrington's throat re-opening every wound he had earlier healed on Jack's body. The blood trailed down Jack's face, dripping onto Norrington's and the Commodore tried to elbow Jack in the ribs.  
  
After a few weak tries, Norrington succeeded, and Lorelac's grip loosened just enough to allow him a gasping breath. He had just enough time to take that breath before he found himself pulled suddenly backwards, landing hard on top of Jack's bleeding body as Will and Elizabeth tackled Lorelac to the ground in his distraction. Lorelac struggled for a few long minutes under Norrington's body, and Will and Elizabeth's hands before finally going limp, his eye closing tightly.  
  
"I told you to bloody tie my legs together," Jack moaned, still not moving from his place in the sand.  
  
Norrington pushed Jack's bounds hands up over his head and placed a hand to his raw throat. His fingers came away bloody, and he furiously tried to reclaim his breath.  
  
"Are you alright, Norrington?" Jack asked slowly, still not opening his eyes nor moving from his prone position on the sand.  
  
"I'll live," he rasped out, still lying on top of Jack, neither one of them thinking about moving for quite awhile. "How are you? You are you again, right?" Norrington asked, not turning to look at the pirate captain.  
  
"I'm pretty sure I'll live," Jack said, finally opening his eyes. It was when Will and Elizabeth saw Jack's own brown eyes staring up at them that they finally released their tight grip in his shoulders, allowing him to get up, that is once Norrington had, anyway. "Just don't move, Norrington all right? I've got quite a few broken ribs just above where you've currently got your head," Jack said. The statement about broken ribs unfortunately startled Norrington into thinking that he might be hurting Jack and he quickly pulled up off of him, causing the pirate to gasp in pain at his wake. "What did I just bleeding tell you?" he groaned through clenched teeth, two tears making their way down his bloodied face at the extreme pain he was currently feeling.  
  
"Oh God, I'm sorry, Jack," Norrington rasped out once he had seen Jack's face. "How on earth did you manage broken ribs? I didn't land on you *that* hard."  
  
"No, they were a gift from Lorelac in the form of Ana. She took great pleasure in kicking me quite a few times earlier today," Jack said, blood dribbling down from a badly split bottom lip. "Not to mention this lip," he gestured to it. "Lorelac healed all of these the first time he possessed me. I guess he decided to give them back. Not to mention a," his voice seemed to grow weaker and weaker with every passing word, "a bloody awful head wound. Ana didn't give me that though, s'from the cave-in," his voice began to slur a little, and Will, Elizabeth and Norrington exchanged worried looks. "I s'pose that's what's makin' the world spin at the moment, right?"  
  
The three of them immediately went to Jack's side and took action, Norrington retying Jack's wide red and white sash as tightly around what he assumed to be Jack's broken ribs, there was a band of black and blue marks across his still bare chest, with as much care as possible. Jack didn't say anything while he was doing this, only moaned and turned an ungodly shade of pale that his tanned skin shouldn't have been able to accomplish. "Stay with us, Sparrow. We can't afford you passing out on us now. We need you awake so we can get the hell off this island," Norrington told him firmly, helping Will and Elizabeth raise him into a semi seated position so they could take a look at the back of his head.  
  
"'M tryin'," Jack slurred. "S'not easy........but we can't leave yet. Haveta get the crew to the Pearl. Promised......." his eyes drifted shut.  
  
"Oh no you don't, Jack," Will said, beating Norrington to it by a hair. "You have to stay awake. I've seen men fall unconscious with head wounds before and never wake up. We are *not* going to let that happen, do you understand me?" Jack nodded and opened his eyes again, but didn't speak. "James, tie his feet, but leave enough slack so that he can still walk slowly. Do you understand?" Will asked, fully believing Jack's warnings about tying him up now. Norrington nodded and did as he was tasked without comment. "Elizabeth, how's it look?" he asked as she moved behind Jack and looked over the wound on the back of his head.  
  
"It's hard to tell, Will. He's bleeding an awful lot, and all this hair in the way isn't helping matters either. I'm going to need something to stop the blood. And soon. He's loosing too much, too quickly. Look at him," Elizabeth directed. "And feel his skin, for God's sake, it's cold! We're in the middle of the Caribbean, the sun is shining brightly overhead, and he's cold. This isn't good, Will. He needs a doctor. Right now, or I'm worried that there's a chance of him bleeding to death."  
  
"Don' worry 'bout me. Worry about yourselves. 'Bout me crew. Get them to the Pearl. Nothing else matters. Get my crew to my ship," Jack said as forcefully as he could, under the circumstances. That last statement was what did him in, however, and his beaten, bloodied and bruised body had finally decided it had had enough, and he fell, limp and unconscious into Elizabeth's arms.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Wow, that was a long chapter, huh? I guess my 'time off' from posting any new fanfic, ie ff.net's punishment *boo hiss* had one good result; it gave me more time to write this extra long chapter for all of you. Unfortunately, it also forced me to post it on the 15th while it was finished on the 11th. Sigh. Oh well. Please review. If you haven't already, please do. If you already have, please do so again. For that was what really sucked about having this story yanked from ff.net. Losing all 115 of those lovely lovely reviews. :-(  
  
Reviewer Thanks Section  
  
To all of you who had a chance to review last chapter before ff.net yanked my story, THANK YOU!! I wish I could thank each and every one of you personally, but alas, all of your wonderful reviews are lost and I cannot. Perhaps next chapter............sigh.........  
  
-Merrie 


	15. Chapter 14: Hurting and Hating

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: I can't be trusted to own these characters. Look what kind of hell I put them through!  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his ship, his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac the Hated.  
  
Author's Note: To Miss B and Halia for betaing, ta mates, you lasses are the best!!  
  
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and EXTREME angst. This chapter's a kick in the teeth, ladies and gentlemen. It really is. Be warned.  
  
Chapter 14: Hurting and Hating  
  
Will, Elizabeth and Norrington just sat there, not saying a word, Elizabeth not even daring to complain about Jack's increasingly heavy weight in her arms. After a long moment, it was Norrington who finally spoke, "He's still breathing, isn't he?" he wheezed, one hand at his bloody throat the other at the dagger stuck in his belt.  
  
"He's still breathing," Elizabeth confirmed. "I think he's just passed out. And I can't say I blame him after all he's been through."  
  
"We have to get him to the Pearl, somehow. It's the only place where we can take care of him. And I don't trust being on this island for long. It gives me a bad feeling. Almost as if I were being watched," Will said, shivering in the warm Caribbean sun.  
  
"I know what you mean," Norrington agreed sitting down on the sand next to the unconscious pirate captain, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"And it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to lie down either, James. You're still not completely healthy yet," Will admonished the naval Commodore.  
  
"What does he mean, James? What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked, gently shifting Jack's head to her lap.  
  
"After the storm James caught a nasty case of pneumonia. He nearly died," Will supplied looking at Norrington with a frown.  
  
Norrington blushed a little in a mixture of genuine embarrassment under Will and Elizabeth's direct gazes, and annoyance. "I did not almost die, and I'm fine, Mr. Turner," he said, his posture straightening and unintentionally putting a distance between he and Will by saying his surname.  
  
Will wasn't offended, however and even found himself somewhat amused to see Norrington's feathers ruffled a little. He found that somewhere during this nightmare he began to consider the Commodore as a real friend, and couldn't help worry for him though. "Still, you aren't completely recovered yet, and the rest would do you good," Will insisted.  
  
"I don't have time to rest right now, Will. You heard what Jack said, we have to get the bodies of his crew to his ship. We owe them, and him that at least. Especially since he's carried them all out this far. Unless you helped him, Elizabeth?" Norrington directed to her.  
  
"No, they were lined up just like that when I first saw him. I don't know how he managed to move all of them by himself out of the cave, especially in his current condition," she said, looking down at Jack's slack features.  
  
"Indeed," Norrington said somberly. "Elizabeth, you stay there and try and stop Jack from spilling any more blood on this accursed beach. Will, help me move Captain Sparrow's crew down to the beach."  
  
Will nodded, and the two of them began the long, grim task, Elizabeth looking on with mournful eyes at the sight of so many dead.  
  
***  
  
Moving every one of the 14 dead crew members from the beach to the deck of the Black Pearl had taken considerable time, effort, and invention as to figure out a way to pull up the boat time and time again from the empty ship. As had figuring out a way to return all of the empty rowboats that the crew had abandoned on the beach. But they were intelligent and more than determined people and they eventually managed both tasks with minimal difficulty.  
  
The three of them moved to carry Jack's prone form out to the lifeboat last, at Elizabeth's insistence. She had stressed that he needed the rest, in whatever form it came, and they should leave him alone for as long as possible. She had managed to sop up and nearly stop the steady bleeding from the wound at the back of Jack's head, but she was concerned about the now blood-saturated cloths, remnants of her torn dress, beside her.  
  
Norrington and Will frowned with her, seeing the pile of bloodied clothing as well. "How's he doing?" Will asked.  
  
"Not good, Will. Not good at all. We need to get him back to the ship, but be careful, remember he's got more than a few broken ribs," she cautioned him.  
  
To Will's horror, the pressure of the situation almost got to him then, a snappish retort to his clearly worried fiancé on his tongue. Norrington seemed to know what he was thinking however, and stopped the hateful retort from passing his lips by laying a firm hand on his shoulder. Will sighed in relief and sent the military man a grateful smile. Elizabeth was just worried about Jack, same as they all were.  
  
"Let's get him up. We'll be careful, Elizabeth," Norrington assured her. On the count of three, Will and Norrington lifted Jack up, Norrington at Jack's head and Will at Jack's feet. Jack didn't make a move or a sound during the whole thing, which wasn't encouraging. They slowly moved down the beach and placed him gently in the waiting lifeboat, the three of them positioning themselves around him, before rowing back to the Pearl.  
  
Once there, Will tied one end of the ship to the hoisting ropes slung over the side of the Pearl, while Norrington tied the other. Then the three of them reluctantly climbed up the long rope ladder Will had found, and soon stood on the deck, looking down at Jack's still form in the lifeboat below. Will and Norrington then hoisted the boat up to the deck as quickly and as carefully as they could, their arms burning from performing the same action so many times before. But they finally managed to raise it up and tied the ropes off securely so the boat wouldn't fall back to the sea and retrieved Jack's still body.  
  
They carried him to his cabin, leaving him tied up, Elizabeth quickly clearing the bed of empty rum bottles, rolled up sea charts, and dirty clothing before they laid him gently down on it. Jack still didn't make a sound, and that fact was now beginning to seriously concern the trio, especially Will who had seen men fall asleep after receiving head wounds never to awaken. They merely wasted away. He couldn't see that happen to Jack; he wouldn't see that happen to Jack.  
  
"Alright, Jack. You need to wake up now. I'm sorry you're tired, and hurt, but you need to wake back up," Will shook the pirate captain gently on the shoulder, but Jack didn't respond. "Jack!" Will shouted, shaking him even more forcefully, still the pirate captain did not respond.  
  
Elizabeth took a deep breath, hoping the crazy plan her stressed mind had concocted would work, and opened her mouth to yell, "Edward John Corintin Alexandre Sperling if you don't get up out of bed right this minute I'll--- " she didn't need to finish her yell for Jack started up out of bed with wide eyes before immediately falling back with a pained gasp as the movement irritated his broken ribs.  
  
"Bloody hell, I'm up ye bleedin' banshee," he muttered through clenched teeth, his entire countenance screwed up in a grimace of pain.  
  
"I'm sorry Jack, but you weren't waking up. I didn't mean to hurt you. Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked softly.  
  
"That depends," he said, not opening his eyes.  
  
"That depends on what, Jack?" Elizabeth asked.  
  
"That depends on whether or not I really am on the Pearl or just hallucinatin' again," he said, daring to open one eye and scanning it around the familiar room.  
  
"You're on the Pearl and so is all of your crew, Captain Sparrow," Norrington said somberly.  
  
Jack closed his eyes again at that in pain, but of a different sort than he had previously been feeling. "Thank you, James," he said softly.  
  
Norrington managed with an extreme effort on his part not to start at Jack's use of his first name without mockery for the first time since he had known him. "You're welcome, Jack. It's the least we could do."  
  
Jack nodded. "Get me up out of this bed. And untie these bloody ropes," he ordered suddenly, starting to sit up on his own, wincing all the way.  
  
"Jack, do you really think that's a good idea?" Will asked with a frown, but not bothering to stop Jack from getting up. He knew that once the pirate captain had his mind set on something it was useless to deter him, even in his current state.  
  
"It doesn't matter if it's a bloody good idea or not, I'm doing it. I need to see my crew buried proper like while there's still time," he swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood slowly, before falling back down again as the room spun. "Bloody hell," he muttered, holding his bound hands to his head.  
  
"You daft pirate! If you want to get yourself killed, you'll get no help from me!" Elizabeth shouted before stomping out of the cabin in a huff.  
  
"What was that all about?" Jack asked with a frown. "I didn't ask for any help, did I?" He tried to stand again but once more found himself falling back on the bed. It seemed as if his legs didn't want to work. "Uh, I don't suppose one of you might—"  
  
"Need some help, Jack?" Will asked with a small smile.  
  
"No, not at all," Jack assured him, "I just need a start in the right direction, that's all. And if you would untie me? I know I said to tie me up, but I won't be able to do what needs to be done with my hands and feet tied up. I think it'll be all right. I'm not armed, as long as you keep your distance, everything should be just fine," he said with a small smiled, wrapping on the wood of the wall next to his bed. "Besides, you can always tie me up again when we're finished."  
  
"Not to mention you'll need someone to catch you before you bash what's left of your skull in on the deck," Norrington muttered but moved in with Will to untie Jack's hands and feet before grabbing one of Jack's arms.  
  
Together the three of them made a slow procession out to the dock where Jack's crew was laid out in rows similar to how they had been on the beach. Jack cast an eye toward the cursed beach; it didn't look like much really for what it contained. He supposed it was too much to hope that Lorelac had been confined to that beach and that Jack would be rid of him forever. No, it was definitely too much to hope for.  
  
"Help me with them?" he asked to no one in particular, looking down at the deck.  
  
***  
  
No one said a word as the three of them acted as silent and respectful pallbearers, Elizabeth standing off to the side watching respectfully, first shrouding each and every member of Jack's crew and then committing their bodies to the sea one by one. Jack gave a brief eulogy for each man; a funny story, a brave deed, something that painted the dead in a favorable light. When it came time for Gibbs' turn, Jack found he couldn't speak.  
  
"Mr. Gibbs," Jack started before having to take a deep breath, "Mr. Gibbs was a fine man, a fine pirate, and a fine friend," Jack paused to let out a short laugh. "And one of the only men who could almost drink me under the table. He will be missed," he said, his hat at his chest. The three of them consigned Gibbs' body to the deep without another word. There remained only one body on the deck, and that was the one Jack most wanted not to see; Anamaria.  
  
"You have to accept that she's gone, Jack," Elizabeth said softly at his side.  
  
"I know luv," he said silently, not needing or wanting to say anything further. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with this entire display. He had suffered through 13 of his friends and crewmember's eulogies, but the one that he had to give next left a bad taste in the back of his throat. Ana wasn't supposed to die, damn it. Especially in something so trivial as a cave-in. Especially not because she had saved him.  
  
Will and Norrington looked at each other before going to pick up Ana's body. Jack leant against the deck railing staring out to sea, a stormy look on his face. Will and Norrington looked at each other briefly before hoisting Ana's body up on the plank they had been using to tip the bodies over the side. "Wait," Jack halted their actions. "Don't let her go yet, I have to, I have to say something."  
  
"Of course Jack, take your time," Will said, holding Ana's body still.  
  
Jack nodded and slowly made his way over to them, leaning heavily on the railing. He reached Ana's body and pulled back the shroud that had been covering her face. He smiled softly and pushed a lock of her dark hair out of her face. She had always hated it when he did that. She liked her hair long and free and didn't get irritated when it blew in her face. Jack was the exact opposite. "I kept my promises, luv. Let it never be said that Jack Sparrow didn't keep his word."  
  
"Except when he promised to protect you," Lorelac said, taking over Jack in his moment of weakness. "Oh, and the gang's all here. How nice it is to see you all again. Elizabeth, you're still looking lovely as always lass, you and I are going to have that chat soon. James, I like the throat. It's a good look for you," he smirked, referring to Norrington's black and blue throat, clear imprints of Jack's hands marring his fair skin. "And dear William, it's always a pleasure," he said dipping into a short bow before swaying slightly. "Bloody hell, you're dear captain does seem to be in a bit of a bad way, doesn't he? You should probably do something about that."  
  
"Leave," Will hissed. "You're definitely not welcome, and we will not tolerate your presence here."  
  
"Oo, big words from the blacksmith. What if I wanted to be here? What if I wanted to see your reactions when I did something like this?" Before any of them could react, Lorelac leant over Ana's body and kissed her full on the mouth obscenely before turning back to Will and Norrington. "Take care of dear Jack for awhile for me, would you? I have a feeling this might rob him of what little sanity he has left. Ta!" he snorted at the use of Jack's favorite salutation before giving Jack back possession of his body.  
  
In the next moment, a miracle occurred; Ana opened up her eyes wide and looked directly at him. "Jack? Jack is that really you?" she asked with a frown. "Why am I tied up?"  
  
"Oh Ana," he whispered, cupping her face gently. "Are you real?" he asked, not daring to believe it.  
  
"Of course I'm real, you bloody pirate! That cave-in must have hurt you more than I thought it did." She looked up at Norrington and Will who were holding her. "Wait a bloody minute, where am I? I thought we in the cave!" A thought occurred to her and her dark skin paled. "Oh gods, I'm dead. I died Jack, didn't I? Tell me the truth, is this hell?"  
  
"It's more like Heaven, love," Jack said, tears of joy trailing down his face. "I don't know how it's possible, but you're alive! Ana, you're alive and I'm not going to let them throw you overboard," he said, casting a sharp glance to Norrington and Will.  
  
"Throw me overboard?! Why would they throw me overboard?!" Ana shouted, and Jack grimaced, having forgotten how loud she could be when she put her mind to it.  
  
"Easy love, everything will be fine. You don't have to shout, I'm standing right next to you. They're going to throw you overboard because they think you're dead. But we'll show them. You're alive. They can't throw you overboard if you're alive, that would be cruel; like walking the plank. I guess that's kind of like being thrown overboard when you're alive, only you're not thrown, you walk..."  
  
"Jack, you're rambling," Ana admonished him with a small smile. "Get me out of this bleedin' shroud if I'm not dead, savvy?" she ordered, fidgeting in the tightly wrapped cloth.  
  
"Savvy," Jack said with a smile, reaching over to untie the shroud. His attempts were interrupted however, by Will laying a hand on his wrist.  
  
"Jack, what are you doing?" he asked quietly, sounding as if he were trying to humor him.  
  
Jack frowned. "I'm getting Ana out of this bloody death cloak. You heard her, she wants out of it since she's not dead," he shook off Will's hand and resumed his untying.  
  
Will winced at that, "Oh God. Lorelac, you bastard," he muttered. "Jack, Ana's not alive. She hasn't been saying anything to us. She's dead Jack, just as she was when we brought her body on board."  
  
"Why are they talking about me as if I'm not here, Jack? I'm not dead!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Although Jack winced at the loud noise, Will, Norrington and Elizabeth didn't even seem to notice.  
  
"What is wrong with you? Can you hear her? She just shouted at the top of her bleedin' lungs for Christ sake," Jack asked them incredulously.  
  
"She's not saying anything, she's dead Jack," Norrington told him firmly, horrified at what he was seeing play out before him.  
  
"Don't listen to them, Jack! Listen to me! I am not dead! Don't you think I would know it if I were dead? And you would too. Believe your eyes, Jack. I'm alive and I'm right here in front of you."  
  
"I do believe you, Ana," oh God how he wanted to believe her. She smiled up at him and he felt his own face break out into a broad grin, not caring how it tugged on his injured cheek. Before any of them could react, he had reached over Ana's body to pull out the gifted dagger stuck into Norrington's belt which he then held out in front of him and hissed, "I don't care if you're my friends. You're not throwin' Ana overboard. And I'll slit the throat of the first person who tries," he said, his eyes blazing.  
  
"That's right Jack, don't trust them. They're landlubbers and British military to boot. They're not pirates like you and me. They don't know our code; our ways. They'll let me die, Jack. The blacksmith has always hated pirates, you heard him, remember? And Norrington," she said with a snarl, "has hanged more pirates than you or I probably know. Don't let them kill me Jack," Ana pleaded with him.  
  
"I won't, luv. I'd rather die than see you hurt again," he said, snarling at his once friends. He would consider them his enemies and would treat them as such if they didn't untie Ana right now and let her go. "Untie Ana and I won't be forced to do something we'll all regret, mates," Jack sneered the familiar term.  
  
"Jack," Elizabeth said firmly, coming as close to him as she dared while he was flinging the sharp dagger about. "Don't believe her. It's Lorelac, trying to trick you. Ana's dead, Jack. She's not really talking to you, Lorelac's just making you think she is. Put down the knife, Jack."  
  
Hurt blazed across Jack's face and Elizabeth winced. "I thought you of all people were different, Elizabeth. But I guess I was wrong. I can see how you would stand against me in this though, you have your reasons. I won't hold it against you, but I won't let you dump Ana overboard like she's nothing either. By God, I'll kill even you if I have to, Elizabeth. Now put Ana down. I won't ask again."  
  
Will looked at Jack, across Ana's body at Norrington, and finally at Elizabeth before doing what he had to do. Before any of them could react, he tipped Ana's body into the sea. It slid down the plank slowly and sank down into the ocean's embrace before Jack could stop it.  
  
"You bastard! I'll kill you for this!" Jack screamed, lunging at Will.  
  
Will had just enough time to drop the plank to the deck and raising his hands in defence before Jack was on top of him, slashing at him with Norrington's dagger. It took all of Norrington and Elizabeth's strength to pull the enraged pirate off of Will's now bloodied form.  
  
"Let me go! He killed Ana, he killed her! He let her die! Let me go, you bastards! He'll wish he'd never been born when I'm through with him!" Jack screamed, bucking in Norrington and Elizabeth's grip.  
  
"Elizabeth, for God's sake get that knife out of his hand. And be careful!" Norrington said, holding Jack's wrists apart with all his might.  
  
After a long minute of Jack's frenzied fighting, Elizabeth managed to wrench the bloodied knife from Jack's fingers. "I've got it!" she breathed, her eyes fixed on the blood that coated it; Will's blood. Oh God.  
  
Norrington sighed in relief as he sat down hard on Jack's chest, still holding his wrists out at his sides. Jack tried to buck him off weakly, his broken ribs screaming at him, but it was no use. He was firmly pinned to the deck. "Check on Will, Elizabeth," he said over his shoulder, not daring to take his eyes of Jack for a second. Elizabeth didn't respond. "Elizabeth!" he shouted, chancing a quick look over his shoulder, fearing the worst.  
  
Elizabeth knelt over Will's body. "He's still alive, James. But oh God, there's so much blood. Will, can you hear me?" she asked, her voice quavering.  
  
"Is Jack all right?" Will asked with a groan, his face clenched in pain.  
  
"I'll be better when I see you dead," Jack hissed. "I thought you were my friend, Will. But you've finally showed your true colours. You're no better than Barbossa."  
  
"She was dead, Sparrow. Will didn't betray you. None of us have betrayed you. She was dead and you just attacked and almost killed one of your best friends," Norrington said coldly, knowing that Jack hadn't really been at fault, but giving up some ground on the shaky friendship that had begun to form between the two of them. "What is going to take to get you to believe that? You said it yourself, Lorelac came to you in her form, causing all of the injuries that I'm no doubt irritating right now," Norrington winced a bit, remembering Jack's broken ribs and how it must feel to have him sitting on them, but he didn't dare get up in fear that he might try and attack Will again.  
  
"She was dead, Jack," Elizabeth said through her tears. "She was dead and now Will might die too. If he dies, by God I'll kill you myself, Jack, friend or not," she threatened.  
  
Despite the fiery rage that was tearing through his soul, Elizabeth's words cut to his very core and Jack began to doubt. Were they telling the truth? Had Ana really been dead all along? Jack shuddered to remember her screams as she was pushed overboard; her pleading for Jack to save her. Had that all been a lie? "Oh God," Jack whispered, going limp on the deck under Norrington's weight. "What have I done?"  
  
The tension drained out of Norrington's form to hear Jack say those words. It returned with a vengeance however as he saw Jack's face go slack, his eyes glazing over. "Jack?" he asked, getting up off of him and kneeling at his side. "Jack are you still there? Talk to me?" he cast a worried glance over his shoulder where Will was now struggling to sit up with Elizabeth's help. He was relieved to see that he wasn't injured nearly as badly as Elizabeth had thought. His thick clothing had deflected some of the knife's blows, but not all. He would certainly carry a few long scars across his chest from the attack for the rest of his life; but he would live. The relief he had been feeling quickly faded again as he thought of why he had looked over his shoulder in the first place. "Jack's not answering me," he said softly.  
  
The two of them made their way over to Jack and Norrington, taking in Jack's glazed eyes and slack expression. Will reached out a hand and waved it in front of Jack's eyes. The pirate captain didn't so much as blink. "Jack!" Will shouted, leaning over him.  
  
"I don't think that's going to work. He's not there, Will. I don't know where Jack went, but he's not with us any longer," Elizabeth stated slowly.  
  
"Well we can't just leave him like this!" Will shouted, biting back a groan as the force of his chest moving with the yell brought the cuts back to his attention.  
  
"I agree," Norrington said softly. "It's...unnatural to see Sparrow so...calm. I find it unnerves me almost more than seeing him go mad does."  
  
"I'd be more than willing to slap him again after what he did to Will," Elizabeth ventured, her voice still more than a little cold as she clung to Will's side.  
  
"Elizabeth, it wasn't his fault. He wasn't in control of his actions," Will assured her.  
  
"Did you see his eyes before he attacked you, Will? Because I most certainly did. Lorelac wasn't in control of him. That was Jack who attacked you, your friend. He was in complete control of his actions, and he could have killed you; he would have if we hadn't stopped him. So don't tell me it wasn't his fault."  
  
"If you're going to slap him again, for God's sake do it quickly and get it over with," Norrington said, uncomfortable with the whole scene. He had seen Jack's eyes as Elizabeth had, and he too had noticed that they weren't Lorelac's cold blue. But that didn't matter at the moment. The only thing that mattered was—" his train of thought was derailed by the loud crack of Elizabeth's hand across Jack's cheek. Jack's head flung to the side upon impact, but he still didn't respond. Elizabeth slapped him again on the opposite cheek; still nothing. She would have kept slapping him, tears flowing freely down her face if Will hadn't grabbed her wrist tightly.  
  
"Damn you, Jack," she moaned, place her face down on Will's shoulder and breaking out into sobs.  
  
"It didn't work," Will said after taking a moment to run his hand through Liz's hair slowly, trying to ease her sobs. "Please Elizabeth, don't cry. I'm really ok. And I don't blame Jack, so neither should you," Will implored her.  
  
She looked up at him and the pain reflected in her reddened eyes made him gasp before it disappeared so quickly that he didn't know if he had even truly seen it. "What are we going to do, Will? You're right, we can't leave Jack like this, but it didn't work," she said, casting a glance down at Jack's motionless body, both of his cheeks reddened from her hand.  
  
"Let's get him back to his cabin," Norrington suggested. "And we need to take a look at those cuts of yours as well, Will," Norrington said, gesturing to Will's bloody shirt-front.  
  
"You're going to have to help us lift him, Elizabeth. I'm afraid I might have a bit of...difficulty in that area," he said, looking down at his bloodied chest with a wince.  
  
Elizabeth nodded and the three of them carried Jack back to his cabin and once more laid him on the bed. He still didn't respond, and his eyes still stared off into nothingness, blank and practically lifeless.  
  
"Let's get you cleaned up, Will. There doesn't seem to be anything we can do about Sparrow at the moment, so we might as well solve the problems were able to. Have a seat," he said, gesturing to a large plushly cushioned chair set up against one of the walls. Will leaned back in the chair and slowly removed his tattered shirt from his chest. Once the full extent of what Jack had done to him was revealed Norrington winced and couldn't stop himself for casting a glare at the still figure on the bed. Will noticed, however and raised a hand. "It wasn't Jack's fault. I don't blame him, and you're not going to either. He's got enough to deal with right now without us adding to it, understand? And there's no telling how long whatever's happening to him right now is going to last. He needs our help."  
  
It was then that the man in question decided that it was time to return to the world, startling them all with a loud groan. "Jack!" Will shouted, standing up quickly to rush at his friends' side before sinking back down into the chair with a groan of his own.  
  
"He's not going anywhere, and I'm not done yet," Norrington said sternly, grabbing at the bandages and small bowl of fresh water that they had found earlier to treat Jack's wounds.  
  
"Just hurry, all right?" Will said, not taking his eyes off Jack's slowly moving form. He hadn't said anything, but at least his eyes were now closed rather than seeming to stare straight through to your soul without blinking. He frowned to see that Elizabeth hadn't moved from his side to check on Jack. She was watching the pirate captain stir with a look he couldn't quite place. It almost looked as if she were afraid of him. "He won't hurt you, Elizabeth," he said softly and she jumped as if startled. Will frowned at this reaction.  
  
"Oh, yes. I know, it's just. I was thinking about you, that's all," Elizabeth hastened to say, one hand at her chest. Will accepted this for now, but there was more to Elizabeth's reaction than she was letting on.  
  
Norrington looked at her suspiciously but kept silent, wrapping the linen strips gently around Will's chest as Elizabeth moved in to wipe the blood away. With the two of them working quickly, the task was soon finished. He put back on his tattered shirt and vest, having lost the other clothes he had brought when the Saviour sank, and the three of them made their way over to Jack's side.  
  
"Jack, are you alright?" Will asked the pirate captain, his brow furrowing as he saw that Jack was trembling. Jack didn't respond, and Will laid a hand on Jack's chest, his brow furrowing even more to feel that Jack's heart was beating rapidly, and that he still didn't respond to him.  
  
"Sparrow, come back to us," Norrington said, standing at Will's side his own brow furrowing to match Will's as he saw that Jack's forehead was beaded with sweat. "I don't like this, something's wrong," Norrington said, placing a hand to Jack's forehead. He pulled it back with a gasp. "Dear God, he's burning up!"  
  
Elizabeth rushed off to get the bowl of bloodied water and what few scraps of cloth that remained. She soaked one of them and laid it gently on Jack's forehead, causing him to hiss at the contact. His eyes snapped open and looked up at them. Elizabeth was relieved to see that they weren't Lorelac's blue, but they weren't exactly Jack's eyes either. "Jack?" she asked tentatively.  
  
Jack closed his eyes again in a wince. "No, I'm not here. I can't be here. Have to stay away. Hurt Ana. Hurt Will. Hurt Elizabeth. No one's safe around me. I get all of my friends killed; or worse," he said his eyes opening again filled with such sorrow that Elizabeth felt her eyes stinging with unshed tears at the sight.  
  
"Jack, I'm ok. We're all right," Will assured him.  
  
Jack writhed on the bed a little, his head shaking back and forth. "No, you're not all right. I'm not all right. No one's all right. I'm clearly mad, didn't Elizabeth tell you?" he said with a short laugh that chilled the blood in Will's veins. "And madmen can't be allowed to live."  
  
"That's not true, Jack!" Will shouted.  
  
"Which part, dear William; the fact that I'm a madman or the part about not letting me live? Because both are true, I assure you," Jack said, sounding completely rational.  
  
"Jack you're sick, you need a doctor, but you're not going to die," Norrington said firmly.  
  
"Oh, I didn't say I was going to die, I said I can't be allowed to live. There's a difference, mate," Jack said with a wide grin that made Norrington shiver.  
  
"You'll get through this, Jack. We'll help you," Will said softly.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh stop dreaming, Will. There's no return from this for me, haven't you realized that yet? My crew is gone, my sanity is gone, bleedin' control over my body is gone due to that bastard Lorelac, and now it seems my health is gone too. Are you really stupid enough to believe that there's any chance for me to come away from this now?"  
  
Will didn't have an answer to that right away and Jack seized upon his hesitation. "I knew it. You don't believe me either. I don't blame you really. I'm broken Will, just face it."  
  
"I refuse to believe that," Will said forcefully. "You are stronger than any man I know. If anyone can get through this and come out whole on the other side, it's Captain Jack Sparrow."  
  
Jack smiled briefly at the use of his title, but continued on, "That's what you're not accepting, mate. I'm not whole. I can never be whole again. There will be no coming back from this, no coming out on the other side. Captain Jack Sparrow is gone."  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Muahahahahahahahahaha...er, was that out loud? *devilish grin* Yes, I'm well aware that I'm evil, thanks. This story will very soon be coming to a close, ladies and gentlemen. I had originally only intended to do 15 chapters, but we'll see what happens. And then the sequel will begin! I'm excited, how about you?  
  
Reviewer Response Section  
  
Neon, Sara, my wonderful friend: thank you sooo much for reviewing!! You're the best mate!  
  
Otherhawk: I'm glad you liked last chapter. I hope you like this one too. If it's addicted to read, think about how addicting it is for me to write! This and Darkness Rising both! I spend entirely too much time working on these fics than I should, being a college student with homework and all. Oh well. And I'm glad you're liking Norry! He's fun to write.  
  
Mara: Yes, I am finally back. Stupid ff.net. If only Jack had been tied up before, this story wouldn't have nearly as much angst in it as it does now...wait, what fun would that be? ;-)  
  
Jackfan2: Will will find out about the rape sooner or later, but not yet. And God only knows what he'll do to Jack then.  
  
Pendragginink: You are my hero! You're review made my whole day, really! You're the best!! *gives a virtual box of chocolates* Hmm, I'm not sure you're going to get a lot of closer from the end of this story, but we'll just have to see in a few chapters, won't we? As for the natives? I'm not sure what they do quite yet, I don't speak their language and Kiquan seems to have disappeared so I have no translator. I'm sure they'll let me know eventually. Norry does have some luck, but not a heck of a lot. He's still alive though?  
  
Mistress of Destruction: Yes I dislike Lorelac with a passion as well. He seems to get off on that, the (&%$%%$#$#@. He's a troublemaker of the worst sort, and I wish he'd just leave us all alone. No such luck, I'm afraid.  
  
Blue Trinity: You know, I think you might be the only person who actually admits to having a small like of Lorelac. Congratulations! *sends a virtual ever growing tattoo Blue Trinity's way* Oh, and thanks for the double review!!!  
  
Neveradullmoment: Deliciously evil, you say? Why yes I am, at that. *wicked grin* I'm glad you're liking my story! Thanks for reading!  
  
Madam Hausfrau: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!!  
  
Savvy Renegade: Dear HF, you speed reader, you. Thanks so much for the review!!!  
  
Lelena, the Moonstruck: I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you or the review!!  
  
To everyone, thanks again!! You guys make my day!!!  
  
-Merrie 


	16. Chapter 15: Pain, Possession, Punishment...

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: They're definitely not mine. No one who owned these characters would be doing the things I'm doing to them. :-)  
  
Summary: Captain Jack has lost his crew, nearly his life, and now his sanity to a horrible new curse. Will this Sparrow be able soar again after his wings have been broken?  
  
Characters: Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Commodore Norrington, Kiquan, and Lorelac that @#$%^&**(^*^$@!  
  
Author's Note: To Miss Becky for doing a wonderful betaing job as always, love ya, Miss B! And to Halia, Sara and Gypsy for pushing me on and encouraging me every step of the way. You guys are the best!!!  
  
Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and more EXTREME angst.  
  
Chapter 15: Pain, Possession, Punishment and Postludes  
  
"Do you think he'll be ok in there alone?" Elizabeth asked, glancing over her shoulder at Jack's cabin where they had left him tied up once more lying on the bed.  
  
"I don't know. Did you hear the way he was talking? That's not the Captain Jack Sparrow I know," Will said with a frown.  
  
"I know, but can you blame him really? He has suffered quite a few losses as of late," Norrington pointed out with a frown.  
  
"I know, it's just..." Will trailed off with a sigh, not knowing what to say.  
  
"You don't like seeing him this way. Trust me, Will. None of us do. But he'll be alright. He has to be," Norrington said with a somber look.  
  
"I still don't think we should have left him in there alone. Especially in that state," Will said.  
  
"Will, he asked us to leave. And right now, we need to be thinking of ourselves. We have to get this ship moving somehow. Jack needs medical attention; more than we can give him here," Norrington said.  
  
"Let's see if we can't get this ship ready to sail then, shall we?" Will said with one last look in Jack's direction before moving to pull up the anchors and make the Black Pearl ready to make sail.  
  
***  
  
'Well I guess it's just you and me now, Jack,' Lorelac taunted upon seeing that the cabin was now empty. 'It looks like your friends have abandoned you after all. Just like I told you they would.'  
  
"I told them to leave," Jack said absently, staring up at the ceiling of his cabin. The ropes at his wrists chafed a bit; he had made Norrington tie them as tightly as the military man dared, not wanting to injure the sensitive flesh of Jack's wrists. "I wanted to be alone."  
  
'You do realize that you're not bloody going to ever be alone again as long as I'm here, don't you?' Lorelac asked incredulously.  
  
"Yes, I know," Jack mumbled, still staring fixedly at a point above him.  
  
'Well this is going to be bloody easier than I thought,' Lorelac muttered to himself. 'You've given up, haven't you? I don't bloody believe it. Captain Jack Sparrow, and he's given up. You really don't care about anything anymore, do you?'  
  
"You've taken all I cared about away," Jack muttered, still not moving, still staring up at the ceiling.  
  
'What about the witless trio out there? Don't you care about them?' Lorelac asked, and if he had a body just then, he would have been smirking.  
  
"You'll have me kill them sooner or later," Jack murmured with a frown, finally blinking.  
  
'Ahh, finally a reaction! And here I thought you had turned to stone on me, Jack. Or else, gone even more insane. With you, one can never tell.'  
  
"Just leave me alone," Jack moaned softly, still not moving. "I don't want to talk to you right now. Go away."  
  
'You say that as if I'm actually going to just up and leave Jack. Why is that? Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm never leaving. I'll be here for the rest of your life, and there's nothing you can do about it,' Lorlac said with a dark laugh, possessing Jack once more. Jack screamed as his entire body was flooded with pain more intense than anything he had ever felt before, and his mind simply slipped away.  
  
***  
  
"Oh God, you all heard that, right?" Will asked, his face growing pale.  
  
"Jack," Elizabeth whispered, her eyes widening as she turned to run to his cabin, Will and Norrington close behind her.  
  
When they arrived at Jack's cabin however, expecting to find him ranting and raving and tearing at his restraints, they were shocked to find him exactly how they left him. Well, almost, anyway.  
  
"Jack? Are you all right?" Elizabeth asked worriedly, taking in the bloodied streaks on Jack's face trailing out from his eyes, nose and mouth. She had seen this before, and she didn't like it. Jack didn't answer her, and she moved tentatively forward, Norrington and Will close behind her.  
  
"Oh God," Will and Norrington said in tandem, seeing Jack's face together as they moved into the room behind Elizabeth.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Will asked with a frown. "Jack! Answer me! Are you all right?" he shouted at his pirate friend. Still, Jack did not answer, only stared up at the ceiling with his bloodied eyes, still not moving.  
  
Elizabeth took a deep breath, reassured herself that Will and Norrington were in the room with her and Jack, and moved to the pirate captain's side. She kneeled down beside the bed and laid a hand gently on his shoulder and whispered softly, "Jack? Please talk to us," she said, taking his head in both hands and moving his face to look at hers. What she saw there shocked her. She wasn't confronted by the nightmarish blue eyes of Lorelac, no, she was assaulted by Jack's own brown eyes, but they stared up at her as if he were asleep with his eyes open.  
  
"Is he all right?" Norrington asked, coming to stand at her shoulder. Jack's eyes darted to him quickly, and Norrington took an involuntary step back under the full weight of Jack's intense dark stare. But still, Jack said nothing.  
  
***  
  
Jack heard each of them calling to him dimly, trying to get him to answer, but he found he hadn't the strength. He could feel Lorelac's presence prowling around his mind, annoyed that Jack's body wasn't doing as he commanded it to. He wanted to ask Lorelac what was wrong; why he wasn't taking over, but couldn't manage the words.  
  
'I don't know what's happening any more than you, you pathetic bastard,' Lorelac mumbled, sounding more than a little annoyed. 'Look at you, you have no strength left to fight me, how am I not bathing in your friends' blood right now?'  
  
If Jack could have answered, he would have, but all he could do was to stare in Elizabeth's eyes as she held his face up to his, not able to even blink. He could see her lips moving, obviously trying to talk to him and to get him to respond, but he couldn't get his mind to understand what she was saying to him. He was much too far gone for that; a prisoner in his own mind and body.  
  
'Oh stop your bloody whining. Have you any idea how long I stayed trapped in that godforsaken cave until you and your witless crew came and set me free? It's a number far too high for your pathetic mortal brain to ever hope to comprehend, I bloody assure you,' Lorelac seethed. 'So if you think I'm just going to give up the only freedom I've ever known in millennia, you're even more dim-witted than I had originally though you were. And that would be saying a lot.'  
  
"Jack, answer me please!" Elizabeth's voice suddenly broke through the fog that was enveloping his mind. He struggled to answer her, but the only thing he had been able to accomplish was to close his eyes and slowly open them again in a lazy blink. Elizabeth seemed to sigh in relief at that, at least. That one slow blink was probably the only indication that she had right now that Jack was even still alive; his body had been so still and lifeless.  
  
'What is this? You shouldn't even be able to think coherent thoughts still let alone bloody blink! What in all the gods of heaven and the demons of hell's name is going on here?' Lorelac asked, a very real undercurrent of fear tinging his words for the first time since this nightmare had begun.  
  
'If you...don't know, then how...do you expect....a pathetic mortal...like me too? You...bastard,' Jack managed to ask in the landscape of his own mind, every word a supreme effort.  
  
Lorelac slapped Jack's presence within his own mind hard across the mouth for such insolence, but it was Jack's body who paid the price, and Elizabeth, Will and Norrington gasped to see Jack's lip split, and a thin trail of blood leak down to join the others that already covered his mouth and chin from when Lorelac had taken possession of him. For he was Lorelac's at the moment, despite the fact that the fallen god couldn't take control of his body. For if Jack wasn't in control of his own body, then there was no one else but Lorelac, was there?  
  
'How dare you question me? I am a god! I am above your petty questions and curses! I will make you pay for—' Lorelac was cut off as Jack's body moved. 'Sparrow?' he called out uncertainly. Something had shifted and he didn't like it. He felt his hold on Jack begin to slip, and he didn't know why.  
  
"Where am I?" Jack asked, casting his eyes around the room. He smiled in relief as his glance set upon a familiar face. "Ah, Miss Elizabeth thank God! Perhaps you would be good enough to inform me of where I am, and dear me, just what exactly are you wearing? And why am I tied up?" he asked with a frown, taking in the pants and billowy shirt she had borrowed from Anamaria's cabin to cover her naked state and the ropes that bound his wrists and feet.  
  
"What do you mean; we're in your cabin?" Will said with a confused frown, relieved that Jack was at least talking again. "And you asked us to tie you up!"  
  
"Oh no," Elizabeth whispered. "Edward?" she asked softly.  
  
Jack winced. "I thought I had informed you of my great dislike for that name, Miss Elizabeth. And you didn't answer my questions. I find that rather rude."  
  
"Edward John Corentin Alexandre Sperling, I assume?" Norrington asked wearily, moving to Elizabeth's side.  
  
Jack narrowed his eyes at Norrington's approach. "You seem to have me at a bit of a disadvantage, sir. You know my name, and yet you have not introduced yourself." Jack made this statement sound like the gravest of insults in Norrington's ears somehow.  
  
"James Christopher Michael Norrington III, Commodore of His Majesty's Royal Navy," Norrington said with a small bow. "And you sir, are in fact not Edward John Corentin Alexandre Sperling. You are Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate."  
  
"Oh not with this pirate business again. Are all of you people daft? Do I look like a pirate to you?" Jack asked in annoyance. "And I demand you release me at once!"  
  
"We'll release you when you've proved to us that you're not a threat, and not a moment sooner. Do I make myself clear, Captain Sparrow? And as for looking like a pirate; have you taken a look at yourself lately?"  
  
Jack scoffed at that but didn't argue, and did as Norrington had commanded him. "Dear God!" he quickly glanced at Elizabeth. "Do I truly look exactly the same as I did the last time I saw you? And is this once more 1693, not 1673?" he asked with a frown. "I can't remember. What's happening to me?"  
  
"You're truly not Jack?" Will asked softly, finding it more difficult to wrap his mind around the concept of Jack not remembering who he was and in fact turning into an entirely different person than Norrington was.  
  
"I am Jack, but I take it that's not what you mean. I find I don't remember you either. Am I supposed to remember you? Or is this our first meeting? Forgive me, but everything's so confusing right now," Jack said with a frown.  
  
"I'm Will, Will Turner. And we're friends. We have been for over a year now, in fact," Will stuttered, his eyes wide.  
  
"Friends for over a year, you say?" Jack looked Will up and down, taking in his dirty and torn clothes, clearly marking him as a member of one of the lower classes. "Well I suppose some allowances must me be made," he muttered to himself, leaving Will feeling slightly insulted. "And are you associated with Miss Elizabeth and Commodore...Norrington, was it?" Norrington nodded.  
  
"Elizabeth is my fiancée, and I'd be honoured to call James my friend. As I am honoured to call you the same, Jack," Will said, determined to not feel insulted by the man before him, who was, for all intents and purposes, still his friend.  
  
"Your fiancée? Oh, I'm, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know. Forgive me, Elizabeth if I acted untoward to you. I didn't know you were engaged to be wed," Jack said in a rush, a true blush coloring his cheeks that forced Elizabeth to stifle giggles upon seeing him so flustered.  
  
"It's all right, Jack. I'm not offended, and Will certainly isn't going to duel you over my honour or anything ridiculous like that. Nothing happened between us. You acted like a perfect gentleman. Rather opposite than how you usually act around me in fact," Elizabeth almost whispered with a frown.  
  
Jack sighed in relief. "I am relieved, Miss Swann. I should not like it if you were upset with me," Jack whispered with such a charming smile even through the blood covering his face that Elizabeth was the one blushing this time.  
  
Norrington found himself shaking his head ruefully at that. Even tied to a bed, blood covering his face in a macabre display, having forgotten who he was, Jack was still keeping them off balance. "I will untie your feet...Jack, if you swear that you will not move out of our sight. Do we have an agreement?"  
  
"What about my hands?" Norrington just shook his head, not bothering to give reasons why, and Jack sighed. "Very well. We have an accord," he muttered. "Now untie me."  
  
It was Norrington's turn to sigh as he moved to Jack's feet. While he worked the knots, he tried to reconcile the Jack Sperling that lie before him, and the Jack Sparrow he had known and found that he couldn't. What had driven a man of such high birth as he no doubt was by the sound of his proper English accent, become the infamous pirate? It was a question he fully intended to ask the pirate when he became himself again, that is if he didn't strangle his past alter-ego first.  
  
"There, you're free. But if I were you, I'd stay in bed. You've got a number of broken ribs, and I have a feeling you won't want to irritate them any further than they already have been. You need your rest, Captain Sparrow," Norrington said softly.  
  
"Please, don't call me that," Jack whispered. "I am not that man, no matter what you might want to believe. I don't know where your friend went, but for the moment he's gone and I've taken his place. I don't understand how or why, but I have. I didn't ask for this, to be propelled into a future I can't hope to comprehend. A pirate? Me? If you knew how ridiculous that sounded..." he trailed off with a frown. "And I had gathered that there must be something wrong with my chest. It doesn't usually hurt this bloody much," he paused as he realized what he had said. "Forgive me for my language, Miss Swann. It won't happen again," he said with conviction.  
  
For a long moment Elizabeth hadn't the faintest idea of what Jack was talking about, and she turned to Will with a confused frown. Her bewilderment abated as she saw Will mouth "he cursed," in her direction. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Jack. I've heard much worse out of your mouth. Well, I'm pretty sure I have. You tend to curse in other languages when I'm not around. I think it's your...well, his, way of doing the same thing you're doing right now."  
  
"And what might that be, Miss Swann?" Jack asked softly, looking as if he had been kicked in the stomach by the blacksmith's donkey.  
  
"Trying to be a gentleman," Elizabeth said with a small smile. "Jack may not be a part of you, but you're most assuredly a part of Jack. Even though he's become rather accomplished at hiding the fact," she muttered.  
  
Jack didn't know quite how to answer that so he just turned his head to stare up at the ceiling, trying to even out his breathing so every intake of breath didn't quite feel as if it were about to cause his chest to rip open at the pain of his broken ribs. He managed to do so about every fourth breath or so, trying not to wince on the others. "Am I to assume I'm some kind of prisoner? Is that why I'm tied up?" A horrid thought occurred to him and the blood drained out of his face. "I'm not to be hung, am I?" he looked to Norrington, his eyes wide and frightened.  
  
Norrington couldn't help feeling sorry for the man in front of him, whose dark eyes managed to look inexplicably innocent set in his horribly bloodied face. "Surprisingly no, as matter of fact," Norrington said with a small smile. "I haven't wanted to see you hanged for few months now," he had to force down a chuckle as Jack's eyes seemed to widen even further. He was being a bit cruel and mischievous, but he found he couldn't help himself.  
  
"Oh, don't listen to him. He's only joking with you. He doesn't want to hang you, do you James?" Elizabeth sent a stern glance in Norrington's direction that left him feeling suitably chastened.  
  
"Quite right," he said quickly. "Forgive me for startling you, Captain Sparrow," Norrington managed to say without laughing again. There was just something...naïve about Jack that he couldn't help but focus on. 'Wait a second, didn't he ask Elizabeth what year it was?' Norrington seemed to think he had, but he couldn't remember what year Jack had thought it was. "I am sorry, Jack. May I ask you a question?"  
  
Jack gave him a distrustful look, but nodded. "I'm not sure I will answer, but you may ask your question, Commodore."  
  
"What year is it for you?" Norrington asked, genuinely interested in the answer.  
  
"1673. But Miss Swann informed me on our last visit that the year is in fact 1693. Why do you ask?" Jack asked, confused.  
  
"And that would make you how old?" Norrington pressed on. "In 1673, that is," he added.  
  
"20," he said, his eyes narrowing. "But I have been my own man for quite a while Commodore," he said a bit standoffishly.  
  
"20, dear Lord," Will whispered. Jack looked at him with a frown. "He thinks he's younger than I am, for God's sake. This can't be happening."  
  
"So you're 40, now? I mean Sparrow's 40? I must admit I'm a bit surprised at that. I thought you'd be younger."  
  
"James, shush," Elizabeth commanded quietly, cleaning off Jack's face gently once more with the wet cloth she had retrieved while they had been talking. "We need to figure out how to bring our Jack back. Not that I don't like talking to you, Jack," she told him softly, "but you don't belong here."  
  
"I understand, Miss Swann, and I'm not offended," he looked up into her eyes as she cleaned the last traces of blood from his face. "How could I be?"  
  
Elizabeth blushed and Will couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. He'd had to put up with Jack's blatant flirting with Elizabeth ever since he had known him, it was just the pirate's way he supposed, but this was different and he didn't like it. "Why that particular year?" Will asked, pushing aside his inane jealousy.  
  
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, turning away from Elizabeth to look at Will directly.  
  
"I mean, why has your memory gone back to that particular year? Why do you believe its 1673? Why not 10 years earlier? Why not later? What happened to you in that year that was so important?" Will asked.  
  
Jack frowned and looked a bit taken aback. "I-I don't know. Nothing. My life is normal; boring in fact."  
  
"Will has a good point. What is the last thing you remember of 1673?" Norrington asked.  
  
"I was just leaving for the docks. I was going to meet my cousin Sebastian aboard his merchant ship," Jack said sounding a bit flustered. "After that..." he trailed off.  
  
"After that you don't remember anything," Norrington supplied. "Why were you going to meet your cousin, Jack?"  
  
Jack shifted a bit on the bed at Norrington's questions. "My mother thought it would be good for me to spend some time at sea on his ship, the Intrepid. I didn't agree, but I went anyway. Or, at least I'm pretty sure I did."  
  
"And your father?" Will asked.  
  
"My father died when I was young. I hardly remember him. I was raised by my mother Katrina and my older sister Eva," Jack said after a moment's hesitation.  
  
"You have a sister, Jack?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at him from her place on the ground next to his bed. Norrington and Will had taken seats at the tale nearby.  
  
"Yes, her name is Eva Marie Lynnette Sperling-Donnellson. She's two years older than me. I think you would like her Elizabeth, although she's a bit more...open-minded about certain things in life than I am. I suppose it comes from growing up without a father. And her husband, Richard, only encourages her. But I shouldn't speak ill of my sister," Jack trailed off, managing both an embarrassed and fond look at the remembrance of his sister.  
  
"You've never mentioned her before, Jack. I wonder where she is now." Will mused.  
  
"As do I. I find I would very much like to see her at the moment. I think seeing a familiar face might calm me a bit," he admitted. "This whole experience is leaving me feeling rather disconcerted, I don't mind telling you," Jack said with a sigh.  
  
"I'd imagine so," Norrington muttered. "Something must have happened to you on your cousin's ship, that's the only explanation for why you've been pushed back into the past to that particular time."  
  
"What do you mean 'something must have happened to me?' What must have happened? I was just leaving to join him on his ship. That's all. Nothing else happened," Jack said a bit forcefully.  
  
"Has it even occurred to you how you go from," he paused to remember it all, "Edward John Corentin Alexandre Sperling to Captain Jack Sparrow? Because I most certainly have." He turned to Will and Elizabeth. "Do either of you have any idea how long Sparrow's been a pirate?"  
  
Elizabeth and Will looked at each other, and then to Jack before Elizabeth answered. "At least 10 years, and probably more. He was the Captain of the Black Pearl 10 years ago, and you don't just become a pirate captain out of the blue. You have to prove your worth before an entire of crew of people who'd be willing to kill you to take your job. And Mr. Sperling here probably couldn't hold his own against one pirate let alone an entire crew of them, no offense Jack."  
  
"None taken. But you'd be surprised, Miss Swann," Jack whispered, causing her to send him a searching look. He didn't bother elaborating on his rather mysterious comment however, just stared at the ceiling with a solemn look on his face.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Norrington ventured to ask what Elizabeth didn't.  
  
Jack glared at him, but sighed and spoke softly, "My mother was a wealthy widow who never remarried with only one other man in her life, me."  
  
Understanding donned on Norrington's face and he nodded. "You had to protect her. And your sister."  
  
"There was no one else. My father was dead, I have no brothers, and my mother was an only child." A horrid thought seemed to have occurred to him for his face paled. "If something happened to me as you say, what became of them? Oh God." He sat up as quickly as he could, every muscle in his body tense and his mind urging him to leave, to go home to England and find out what had become of the rest of his family. Once he had finally managed to sit upright, he felt back on the bed again almost immediately, his mouth open in a soundless scream of pain.  
  
They all ran to his side after that, each one of them planning on both comforting him in his obvious worry for his family and intense pain, and yelling at him for being so foolhardy when he was clearly injured. Each one of them stopped however when they saw a fresh trail of blood run down his chin and onto his chest. "Jack? Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked cautiously, almost taking a step back upon seeing the single trail of blood. Jack didn't answer.  
  
Elizabeth wasn't the only one to take a step back when they saw Jack's hands move, the ropes that bound his wrists breaking from the sheer strength of his arms. Jack hadn't opened his eyes yet, but when he finally did, she knew that they'd be a cold pale blue; Lorelac's eyes. "That's not Jack," she warned.  
  
"Of course it's not. Do you actually think a pathetic mortal would have the strength to do what I'm about to do to you right now?" Lorelac asked, opening his eyes and sitting up on the bed, not a trace of the pain Jack was feeling crossing his face. "I think it's about time I heal this body. I wanted to show Sparrow a lesson by re-injuring him, but since he's gone now I think that's a rather moot point. Don't you?" he asked, swinging his legs over the bed.  
  
They all gasped as they saw the bloodied trail still on Jack's chin somehow be pulled back into his mouth and the horrid wound that marred Jack's cheek closed up and disappeared as if it had never existed. "There, that's better, don't you think? I shouldn't like such a ghastly wound on my face either." He got up and walked across the room to where a large mirror stood and glanced into it. "But if I am to truly remain in this body I will definitely have to make some changes," Lorelac said, fingering the beads in Jack's beard and hair.  
  
"I'm growing rather tired of you," Norrington addressed Lorelac, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible after all he had seen.  
  
Lorelac stared at him for a long minute, mirth twinkling in his pale blue eyes; so out of place in Jack's face, before speaking. "Well that is a shame, for I'm the only one you'll be seeing in this particular body for quite a long time. Longer than any of you pathetic mortals live. Now, if you would kindly stifle yourselves," he made an absent gesture with Jack's tattoo covered left hand and the trio suddenly found themselves unable to speak. Lorelac smiled and rolled up the sleeves of Jack's shirt up to his forearms. He held out Jack's right arm for them to see. They watched in mute horror as Jack's sparrow tattoo seemed to be strangled and engulfed by the dark lines of Lorelac's markings as the tattoo spread even further across his body. They didn't cover his face however, but a few jagged back points caressed the lower edge of his jaw where the tattoo had ended. "I see you're at a loss for words. Understandable," Lorelac said with a smirk.  
  
He looked at the mirror again, grabbed one of the beaded strands of Jack's hair, and absently began to take off the beads and unbraid it, humming to himself softly as he did it. "What am I going to do with you three?" he seemed to ask to himself, for they were still unable to speak, as he slowly and methodically removed every trace of Jack's personality from his dark mane, moving to take out the beaded strands out of his beard last. "There, that's much better," he said, taking a piece of leather string that had previously tied back a portion of Jack's hair and swept his hair back, tying it in a low pony tail at the nape of his neck. He conspicuously avoided removing a long strand of gold chain with a brightly shining pale blue jewel among the last remaining braid. Lorelac smirked to himself and wondered what Sparrow and his friends would think that this whole nightmare, as Jack insisted on calling it, began with the removal of a single golden chain from the treasure hoard. His essence had been trapped in that unassuming blue jewel for longer than the human race's memory. He touched the shining jewel briefly and then yanked his hand back as if he had been burned. The jewel had given his fingers quite a shock, as if it were somehow aware of who he was and the fact that he had gotten free due to the actions of a slightly unhinged pirate captain in a fairy tale-esque treasure trove.  
  
After a few more minute of scrutinizing his new appearance, and Jack's; he had removed every bead and braid except for the one and placed the affectations in a small pile on a nearby desk, he turned back to the three. "So, what do you think?" he asked, twirling around in a circle as if on display. "I find I rather like it. The hair still needs a bit of work, and the clothes will have to change, but it's a definite improvement. Go ahead, tell me what you think. I'd like to hear your opinions. Not that they really matter, but it's been quite awhile since I've had anyone to talk to, not counting Sparrow." He waved his hand again and they suddenly felt their voices returned to them.  
  
"How did you do that?" Norrington asked first.  
  
Lorelac smirked. "It's a rather neat trick, isn't it? I've got a lot more up my sleeve now that I'm fully in control of Sparrow's body, I assure you."  
  
"I don't believe that Jack is simply gone. He will find a way to defeat you, you arrogant bastard," Will spat.  
  
Lorelac scrunched his nose up in distaste and waved a hand again. "I've decided silence is golden in your case, Turner," he said and Will found his voice stolen once more. "Do be careful or I might decide you'd be better off in life as a mute. Would you like that? I imagine not." He turned to Norrington and Elizabeth. "Any comments from either of you?"  
  
"What are you going to do with us?" Elizabeth asked softly.  
  
Lorelac stroked Jack's now short beard in thought. He had cleaved the long braids off with a sharp dagger he had found in the desk. "That is the question, isn't it? You and I never got to have our conversation, Elizabeth. Do you think now is a good time?" He smirked to see her flinch. "But have not a worry, lovely lass. I think it will be much more fun to let things play out for themselves. You may not agree, but then again, you wouldn't. No, it will be much more entertaining to see how this little melodrama plays out. And it has been *so* bloody long since I've had a bit of entertainment. So you and your friends are safe...for now," he said with a mischievous smile, showing off all of Jack's golden teeth. "Now if you would be so kind as to get off of my ship," he gestured for them to leave the cabin, and each of them did after a moment's hesitation with Lorelac following closely behind them.  
  
***  
  
"I know you're thinking I'm a bloody rotten bastard for what I'm doing to you right now, but please don't hold it against me. I don't think I could bear it," Lorelac said with a wicked smirk as he lowered the rowboat down from the Pearl's deck and onto the waves containing its silent passengers, although it was only one of them who couldn't speak. There was nothing they could say. A demon had taken Jack's crew, his sanity, control of his life, and now his ship away from him. "I'm sure we'll meet again my friends, so don't fret too much," Lorelac called down from the deck as they were finally afloat in the slightly turbulent ocean. He then turned away and left without another word.  
  
"Will, are you alright?" Elizabeth asked as Norrington pulled in the ropes Lorelac had used to lower them single-handedly and then cut so they couldn't get back up.  
  
"I'm fine," Will mumbled. "The parasitic bastard up there gave me my voice back right before he left. But don't worry about me. Worry about Jack. Worry about what that bastard's done to him," Will said grimly.  
  
"Do you really think I'm not? Do you think I would be that callous? Of course I'm worried for Jack, Will. But for the moment there's not a damn thing we can do for him, so we had better start looking after ourselves."  
  
Will cast his eyes to the deck of the rowboat feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry Elizabeth," he whispered before looking up at her again slowly, his brown eyes wide and sorrowful.  
  
Elizabeth sighed and cast a glance to Norrington who was politely trying his best to ignore their conversation and give them their privacy. It almost made her want to smile. "I know you're worried about Jack. I am too. But we *will* get him back. I'm not ready to give into that bastard any more than you or James are," she said with fervor.  
  
"We should probably try and get to land, it looks like another storm's on its way," Norrington said casting a glance at the quickly darkening sky. "I'm afraid it'll probably have to be on the Lorelac's island. It's the closest place. After the storm passes we'll make our way to...well, my island I suppose since I am the Chief. And we will reclaim Jack. Lorelac will be defeated. Of that, there is no question."  
  
As they rowed to the same island where the whole nightmarish ordeal had begun, with Elizabeth's question, "Chief? Who made you their chief?" fading on the wind.  
  
***  
  
Jack looked after his friends' departure because Lorelac looked at them. He heard Elizabeth's last words as they drifted along the wind because Lorelac did. There was now almost no separation between the two of them. He was Lorelac and Lorelac was him. Although Lorelac seemed to have gained the upper hand. He was no longer in control of his own body, and he knew it. He was walled up in a prison that he could not see or touch, but one that held him more fast than any earthly cell ever could. He had been forced to look on a world that he could not affect no matter how much he might have wanted to. But none of that mattered for the moment. It didn't matter that he was now alone, his friends having been sent away, it didn't matter that Lorelac was now steering his ship with some kind of unseen force as help rather than a crew, the only thing that mattered was that he was still there. He had not disappeared as completely into his own mind as Lorelac might have originally thought. No, he would watch and wait, for that was all he could do, until the opportune moment. And when that moment finally came, and it would, he would make Lorelac bleed.  
  
The End, well almost.  
  
A/N: Note after reviews...  
  
Final Reviewers Thanks Section  
  
Mrs. Sparrow: Thanks for reviewing luv! I'm glad you liked the chapter! Oh, and if you still want to review every chapter before this, I would be extremely grateful.  
  
Blue Trinity: I'm glad you like Lorelac. Someone has to, I suppose. And Jeffrey and Sands are just load of psychopathic, sociopathic, and schizophrenic fun to write. ;-)  
  
Jackfan2: Writing the Ana scene was hard. I wanted to cry myself. Oh, and don't worry. I will give Jack some victories. They won't be pretty, and they won't happen any time soon, but they *will* happen. Of that, I assure you. I am glad you like my story. It's been a load of fun to write. I can only hope the sequel will be half as fun to write as this one was. Oh, and THANK YOU for going back and reviewing some of the earlier chapters!!! You're the best, mate.  
  
Nikki: I'm glad you're liking the story. As for the rape scene being uncalled for? I don't believe it was. Real life isn't what you see in Disney movies. It's dark, sad, and sometimes bad things happen to good people. That's the way of the world. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I don't believe so. I write this story as it comes to me, I don't plan anything ahead of time. I wrote the rape scene because it seemed the natural course of action. I am sorry you didn't like it, but you were warned specifically at the beginning of the chapter.  
  
Lady Russell Holmes: Of course you can have a living tattoo. I've got plenty to go around. And yes, ff.net is stupid *boo, hiss* But oh well. That's life. Be a dear and go back and review some of the earlier chapters for me, would you? I'd be very grateful. Thanks.  
  
Savvy Renegade: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story. It's been a lot of fun to write!!  
  
Mara: Yes, Ana's return was cruel. What can I say, I'm evil. I'm glad you're liking Norry. I love that man to death and I could write him no other way. :-) As for your questions about Jack's past? Just wait until the sequel. Much will be revealed then, I promise.  
  
pendragginink: LOL!!! You have no idea how tempted I was to write Jack taking bites out of the Pearl's railing after reading your review. In answer to your question, I emphasized that it was Jack himself who attacked Will, not Lorelac to show that Jack had really lost it. There was no really deeper thought in Jack's mind other than to make Will pay for what he had done to Ana's body. That's all.  
  
Jigglykat: Yes, again, ff.net sucks. *boo, hiss* I'm glad you're liking my story!! Oh, and don't worry, Lorelac will get his, eventually...  
  
Mistress of Destruction: You know, I hadn't really considered just how much pain Jack must have been it. That was a slip up from me. Thanks for pointing it out!!  
  
Otherhawk: Aww, would it make you feel better to know that I made myself cry while writing it? Don't give up fanfiction though! I'll make you a promise. Once these stories are over, whenever that will be, and if you're still reading, I PROMISE I will write a bit of pure happy fluff just for you. Ok? I promise. It'll be happy, uplifting, and completely ANGST-FREE!!!  
  
Author's Final Note  
  
Finished! Wow, what a ride, huh? But the ride's not quite over yet. I've written an alternate ending to this story. You don't have to read it, in fact you might be better off not reading it, but I'm posting it anyway. If you chose not to read it, please read the sequel, A Gilded Cage, the first chapter of which will be posted very very very very very soon. :-) If you have made it this far and haven't reviewed, please take the time to do so. More than once. For those of you who have been reviewing, ff.net deleted all of those reviews so you get a chance to do so all over again, right? Fun! Or maybe not...Anyway, thank you for reading my little trip into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a lot of fun and I hope the sequel will be too.  
  
Oh, and here are a few little bits of trivia for you, if you're interested:  
  
This story began with a single image in my head, that of Jack showing up at the Turner's doorstep, his crew dead, and with him being alone. As you can see, that scene never got written. Maybe in the sequel.  
  
A FREAKY COINCIDENCE: I wrote Norrington's first name as James BEFORE the movie was released on DVD and I saw the deleted scene in which they mention it. Needless, to say, I freaked right out.  
  
Thank you again to all of my reviewers, I hope to see you all again for the sequel, and here's a bit of shameless self promotion: If you haven't read my Once Upon a Time in Mexico story, Darkness Rising, Please Do!! I've been told it's good, so how about giving it a chance? Thank you.  
  
Now, on to the ALTERNATE ENDING...or not. It's completely up to you. Have fun. :-D  
  
-Merrie 


	17. Chapter 15B: Death and Denial

Broken Wings  
  
A Pirates of the Caribbean story by Merrie  
  
Disclaimer: They're definitely not mine. No one who owned these characters would be doing the things I'm doing to them. :-)  
  
Author's Note: This is an ALTERNATE ENDING to Broken Wings dedicated to Neon Daises who made me write it. It's all her fault. This is not how the story itself ended, that was the last chapter. This is just how it could have ended were I even more evil than I already am, and not wanting to write a sequel, which I do.  
  
Rating: R, just to be safe, for language and violence. WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH  
  
Chapter 15B: Death and Denial  
  
Jack couldn't take it any longer. He lay on his bed, bound hand and foot like some vicious animal, and he knew he couldn't take it any longer. "Just leave me alone," Jack whispered to the circle of overbearing people surrounding him.  
  
"But Jack," Elizabeth started, a confused frown on her face.  
  
"Just leave me alone!" he roared, causing Elizabeth to gasp.  
  
"Look here, Sparrow, there's no call for that. We're only trying to help you," Norrington said with a slight glare.  
  
"You can't help me. Just leave me alone." Jack was almost pleading with them now. "Just go."  
  
"If that's really what you want, Jack," Will said, trailing off, not understanding what was going on in front of him. He had never seen Jack act like this before; so broken.  
  
"Yes, it's what I want. Now would you please leave?" he asked again, turning to face them for the first time, his dark eyes wide and pleading.  
  
Will nodded and grabbed Elizabeth gently by the arm, "Come on Elizabeth, it's what Jack wants. Besides, he'll be all right in here by himself for awhile, won't you Jack?" Will directed toward his pirate friend.  
  
"Yes, of course I will," Jack said, not convincing anyone. But Will would follow Jack's wishes. And if something should happen, they wouldn't be that far away. The Black Pearl wasn't *that* big of a ship, after all.  
  
Norrington cast a long glance at Jack's prone form on the bed, not caring for the situation in front of him. There was something not quite right about the pirate captain. He seemed somehow less than his normal self. After a moment's consideration about the events the man had gone through in the last few days, he supposed it was only normal to seem a little...out of sorts. He would leave the man to his thoughts, as he had requested. He turned to leave and Will and Elizabeth followed closely behind him, leaving Jack alone in his cabin, still tied up, and lying on the bed.  
  
'I thought they'd never leave,' Lorelac muttered in the confines of Jack's mind after the door had been shut to his cabin.  
  
"Please just leave me alone," Jack pleaded with him, bringing his bound wrists up to his face in an attempt to cradle his now aching skull. He really couldn't stand this anymore. His sanity was in tattered remnants, and he could feel it. He had just buried 13 of his crew members in succession, without a break in between. And Ana...oh God, just the thought of her filled his head with darkness and made him want to simply not be for awhile. If only to get away from thoughts of her and what he had...what he had seen, and what he had almost done to Will. It was too much. Too much for any man to cope with in only two days, and he didn't think he could take any more.  
  
'What's wrong with you anyway? You're not giving up on me, are you, you pathetic bastard? I thought you were supposed to be invincible? You're Captain Jack Sparrow, and all that rot? You're certainly not acting like it now,' Lorelac said with a sneer in his voice.  
  
"There is no more Captain Jack Sparrow anymore. He's dead, and you should know. You're the one who killed him," Jack said slowly.  
  
Lorelac was a bit taken aback at that and would have frowned had he a corporeal being with which to do so. He was even more taken aback to find that he had to fight down an impulse to comfort the seemingly depressed pirate captain. Not that comfort from him would have helped, however. In fact, such help would probably only deepen Jack's depression, and that was something that Lorelac couldn't allow to happen. He could sense that Jack's mood had turned almost unbearably dark in the last few hours. Had it been a mistake to taunt him with Anamaria's body like that? He couldn't afford pushing Jack over the edge. Not know, not when he needed him so much. It was a thought along that line of reasoning that pushed him to annoy and taunt Jack in hopes into goading him back into a semblance of his old self.  
  
"Have you left yet?" Jack muttered wearily, closing his eyes and slumping deep down into the bed.  
  
It was then that Lorelac did something that he normally would have; he left Jack alone to his own thoughts, if only for a few minutes. He figured that he wouldn't be gone for long, and it would serve his interests greatly if Jack used that time alone to snap out of whatever despondency he had currently fallen in.  
  
For a long moment, Jack just stared up at the ceiling, not really believing he was truly alone for the first time in...in a long time. When the cold truth of it finally hit him; that he truly was alone, set in, he felt a cold wave of depression settle over him like a cloud of smoke so thick he felt he couldn't even see the edge of his bed. He found himself gasping for breath under its heavy weight. "They're all gone," he whispered to himself, testing the ropes that bound his hands and feet. They were tight; the Commodore had done a commendable job, but he hadn't fully anticipated how determined a desperate pirate could be to escape.  
  
He wiggled his hands and wrists for what seemed like hours, pulling on the rope tied them and his feet for leverage, and after a long moment, he was finally able to slip one bloodied and raw wrist from its bondage. He didn't even seem to notice how slippery his now gore-covered fingers were as he deftly loosened his other wrist and untied his feet. Once he was finally free, he swung his feet over the edge of the bed; trying his best to ignore the screaming pain of his broken ribs, and stood up slowly. The room spun madly to the left as his perception shifted and he nearly fell, but he somehow managed to stay upright with a supreme act of will. He only hoped it hadn't been his last. He needed a will of iron to do what he needed to do next.  
  
He walked; ever so slowly, over to the desk where he knew he had placed a second pistol in one of the drawers in case of an emergency. This wasn't necessarily an emergency, but his situation was dire, there was no doubt about that. He continued his long walk over to the desk and opened a drawer. He nearly fell to his knees in despair to see that it was empty save for a half full bottle of rum, what looked to be a rolled up map of some kind, and an extra bandana. Before he could give up all hope however, he tried the opposite drawer of the desk. Inside was his salvation.  
  
He pulled out the slightly battered pistol and looked it over and checked out from barrel to trigger. It had to work perfectly. If for whatever reason it didn't fire when the time came, he didn't know if he'd have the strength to try again. So he spent his time making sure everything was in order with a strict eye, the ball he had removed was perfectly shaped and round like the bright sun above, the barrel surprisingly clean after disuse. After a few more long minutes, his inspection was finished, and with the reassembled pistol in hand, he made his way back over to the bed slowly, where he sat on the edge with a wince and a moan. He then took a deep breath, looked down at the pistol in his lap, and placed it against his temple. He couldn't muster the courage to place it under his chin like the last time; his bloodied cheek throbbed at the thought. He was just about to cock the gun when the door opened, and his actions were halted with a curse.  
  
"Jack, what in God's name are you doing!" Will shouted at him, taking in the muzzle of the pistol pressed against Jack's temple with a steady hand.  
  
"This doesn't concern you, whelp," Jack said slowly, his eyes closing briefly before opening again. "Just go back the way you came. Leave me alone."  
  
"Why? So you can bloody kill yourself in peace? Give me the pistol Jack," Will said, taking a step toward him.  
  
Jack countered that action by cocking the pistol. "Don't tempt me lad. I mean to do this, whether you like it or not. I'd rather you'd not have to watch, but it that's the way you want it, so be it."  
  
Jack was almost startled into pulling the trigger and ending the conversation just then when the door burst open, Norrington coming through, his sword drawn, and Elizabeth trailing close behind him. "We heard screams..." Norrington trailed off, taking in the situation at once. "Dear God. Put down the pistol, Sparrow," he commanded, lowering his sword to his side.  
  
Jack sighed, but didn't move his hand. "Like I told the whelp here before you so rudely interrupted, 'I mean to do this, whether you like it or not.' My suggestion is to leave now so you don't have to watch. Trust me, you don't want to," he trailed off softly, his eyes locked with Elizabeth's.  
  
"You arrogant, stubborn....pirate!" Elizabeth screamed at him, her eyes blazing. "If you think that we're just going to sit idly by and let you blow your brains out, you're more stupid than you look, Captain Sparrow."  
  
A small, sad smile lit Jack's face up briefly, but his hand didn't waver. "I'm sorry, but that's exactly what you're going to do. You have no choice," he said slowly.  
  
"What of the Pearl, Jack? Would you really give all that up by killing yourself? After the hell you went through to get it back?" Will asked with a frown, desperately trying to find something to convince Jack to put down the gun. Between the three of them, they could rush Jack and try and take the gun away by force, but he had seen the pirate move almost faster than the eye could follow when he was really motivated, and something inside Will warned that this was one of those times. He really intended on doing it. He really planned on killing himself right here in front of them.  
  
"The Pearl's yours, Will. I have no intention of having the ship go down with her Captain. Treat her well, and she'll do the same for you. She's a fine ship, and I hate to leave her, but she'll be in good hands. As for hell? A former member of my crew once told me I knew nothing of hell. He was right. At the time. My perspectives have changed somewhat since then. I'm now on a first-name basis with hell, you see. And this is it. This is hell," Jack stated with intensity, the pistol at his head still not wavering ever though his arm had to be getting tired sooner or later.  
  
"This isn't hell, Jack. It may seem like it now, but it isn't I assure you. What of your crew, Jack? Did they die in vain? If you kill yourself, Lorelac wins and they will have died unrevenged. Is that truly what you want? Don't they deserve to be mourned? Don't they deserve the knowledge that their Captain is still alive and still fighting the very thing that robbed them of their lives?" Norrington asked, his eyes locking onto Jack's, neither one of them blinking away.  
  
"Don't mention that bastard demon's name. I don't know where he went, but I'm truly free of him for the first time since I entered this pleasant little slice of hell, and it is hell Norrington, and I want to make the most of it while I still can. And my crew doesn't care about petty revenge. Wherever the lot of 'em ended up, I'm fairly certain they don't give a damn what the bloody hell their more than slightly unhinged Captain does or does not do for them any longer." He sighed, and turned to Elizabeth. "I have to tell him, Elizabeth," he whispered, turning away before he could see her horrified reaction to that.  
  
"Please, for our sake if no one else's, put down the gun, Jack. And tell me what?" Will asked with a frown, looking to Elizabeth.  
  
"There's something that the both of us left out of our stories, Mr. Turner," Jack said, intentionally calling Will by his formal name in an attempt to distance himself as his friend and tell him what he needed to be told.  
  
Will looked from Jack to Elizabeth to back at Jack again before asking, his throat dry, "And what was that, Jack?"  
  
"Please don't," Elizabeth whispered, her eyes shining with unshed tears.  
  
"I'm sorry luv, but I have to. When that fallen demon bastard was in control of me on that damned island, he raped Elizabeth. No, *I* raped Elizabeth. It doesn't matter whether or not I was being controlled by anyone, it was me, Will. I got to watch her body underneath mine, screaming at me to let her up. I got to hear her sobbing afterwards when she thought I couldn't hear. It was me, your *friend*," he said the word as if it were a curse, "Captain Jack Sparrow." He let his words sink in for a moment, trying to ignore Elizabeth's sobbing, before speaking again. "I'm fairly certain you'd like to kill me right now, and I'd be more than happy to let you pull the trigger, but I think at the last moment you'd waver on the grounds of our once friendship, and I can't allow that to happen. I don't believe you'll ever forgive me, but don't hold it against Elizabeth. She truly was forced," he said softly before turning away from Will's now hard eyes to look at Elizabeth. "I'm truly sorry for the wrongs I've caused you, Miss Swann," he said quietly but firmly.  
  
"You bastard," a voice said, and Jack was surprised to hear it uttered from Norrington's lips, rather than Will's own. The odd thing was, the Commodore didn't seem to be directing his curse at Jack, however, but at the air itself.  
  
"I'm sorry, so very sorry. I'm sure there's a nice spot someplace warm with my name on it waiting for me, so don't worry. Take care of her," Jack directed to Will and Norrington both. "You never should have saved me, Will. You should have left me to hang. But I won't hold it against you, and you shouldn't either. I won't trouble any of you ever again," he said with a sad smile, looking at each of them in the eye one last time. He met Will's eyes last, and was relieved to see that his eyes were clear of any animosity that he might have expected. They were filled with a deep sorrow, but not the hate that he so richly deserved. "Goodbye, my friends." With that, he pulled the trigger.  
  
Will saw Jack's body slumping to the left, his dark eyes having gone glassy and still, the hand holding the pistol dropping listlessly to his side, his expressive hands never to move again. He saw all of these things, but found he couldn't move. He could only watch, a horrified look on his face as he saw both Norrington and Elizabeth rushing to Jack's side, Elizabeth cradling Jack's head in her lap, the pants and shirt she had borrowed from Anamaria's cabin becoming quickly saturated with blood. Will didn't notice any of this. His eyes were fixed on the still smoking pistol, its purpose now served, lying motionless under Jack's unmoving fingertips.  
  
He was vaguely aware of someone sobbing loudly, and slowly moved his nearly unresponsive body in the direction of the noise. It was Elizabeth; she was still cradling Jack in her arms, and was now more than covered in his blood. Norrington slumped on the ground beside the bed, simply staring up at Jack's face, seemingly as lost and unresponsive as Will was. "He's," Norrington trailed off before beginning again, "he's dead. He's really dead," he said as if he didn't believe what was right in front of his eyes.  
  
It was hearing Norrington's practically whispered words that sent the world reeling for Will, and he slumped down on the ground, not a footstep away from the Commodore himself. "He can't be," he muttered. "He's Captain Jack Sparrow...he can't die," he looked at Norrington when he said it, his eyes wide and childlike, as if he were begging the military man to make it all go away, and for Jack to sit up on the bed and start laughing heartily, having pulled the greatest trick of all.  
  
None of it went away. And Jack didn't so much as blink, let alone come back to life. Jack was gone. What was left was a hollow shell that when Will really looked at it, didn't look like the pirate captain at all. "It's not him," he declared at once. "It's some kind of trick. Lorelac tricked us. He wants us to think Jack's dead. But I'm not going to believe it. You hear that, you bastard!" he shouted to the ceiling. "Why don't you show yourself? Because we don't believe your lies!"  
  
"Will, please don't," Elizabeth moaned, her eyes now red from crying to match her blood-covered body. "Don't do this. Not now," Elizabeth said, her voice breaking into sobs again.  
  
"Don't do what, Elizabeth? Don't bother crying for Jack, he's not really dead. This is all a trick. And the talk about the rape, that was a trick too, wasn't it?" he asked slowly, turning to look up at her from his place on the floor next to Norrington.  
  
"It wasn't a trick, Will," Norrington whispered despondently. "This is all happening. Right now. This is all real, every bit of it. And I don't know where that bastard Lorelac is, but he's not here---" Norrington was cut off by a strong wind pulsing through the room, pulling at their hair and sending the papers on Jack's desk dancing about the room. "What is that?" he asked, looking around them with a frown.  
  
"It's Lorelac, he's come to gloat like I knew he would," Will said confidently, rising to his feet. "What's wrong, you bastard? Upset that we didn't fall for your little trick? You're going to have to try a hell of a lot harder than that." The wind stirred about the room for a few minutes longer, seeming to focus its attacks on Will's standing figure and on Jack's prone one, before finally dying down almost as quickly as it had first stirred, and vanishing completely. "Is that it? Is that the best you can do? A little wind to ruffle our hair? You're pathetic," Will screamed into the room.  
  
"Will please, stop this," Elizabeth pleaded with him. "Jack is dead, he's really dead. And he won't be coming back this time," she said, gesturing to Jack's still form, still cradled broken and bloody, on her lap.  
  
"No," Will whispered once more, but the defiance in him seemed to vanish and he slumped back down to the ground, a bereft look settling on his face that brought fresh tears to Elizabeth's face upon seeing it. "He's really gone," he whispered. After that whispered statement, he gave into the grief that had been warring against the denial he had so wanted to fall into. But there was no denying it now. Jack was gone, and he wasn't coming back. The world would no more know Captain Jack Sparrow's antics, the sea no longer troubled by his adventures. He was truly gone, and the world felt more empty, more morose than it ever had been.  
  
"May you find peace, you damn daft pirate," Norrington whispered as an epithet, not moving from his place on the floor, but staring up at Jack's form, his eyes wet with quiet tears. He had known Jack the least, had considered him an enemy for most of his life, but he couldn't deny the pain he felt at the pirate captain's loss. Something wasn't right about all of this. He somehow felt cheated, as if someone had changed the script of life at the last moment and he hadn't had time to learn his lines. This shouldn't have happened. Jack didn't deserve to die, and for God's sake, especially not by his own hand. There should have been something they could have done for him. Some way of preventing all of this. If they had moved a little faster, argued a little harder, perhaps Jack would still be alive, and he wouldn't have to be haunted by the pirate's last words "Goodbye, my friends," and the loud sound of the pistol afterwards.  
  
"What do we do now?" Elizabeth asked between her sobs, even still cradling Jack's body. No one answered her; no one had an answer for her. Such questions about the future seemed somehow trivial at this point. So the question was left unanswered and the room fell silent.  
  
The End  
  
A/N: Don't hate me. This is an alternate ending of the story, as I said before. This is just how the story *could have* gone, not how it did. The real ending of the story was the previous chapter. This scene was just something I wrote at Neon Daises' request. I hope you liked it for its...literary value at least if not for its content. Please send your reviews and lemme know what you thought!! Now, on a lighter note, on to the sequel, A Gilded Cage!! :-) 


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